Heart of Darkness
by Mauveskydiver55
Summary: Jacen Solo's bid for power has left the galaxy shattered. With the Jedi Stretched thin by conflicts across the galaxy, the criminal underworld flourishes. When a new and mysterious criminal group known as The League begins to take control of the underworld, Jedi Knight Nalasee Basar and Jedi in training Fay'ele'talinshae must put aside their differences restore order to the Galaxy
1. Chapter 1

42 A.B.Y, 6 MONTHS AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE SECOND GALACTIC CIVIL WAR

CHAPTER 1

Fay'ele'talinshae appreciated few expressions of art, but the art of forging blades was one of Mandalorian bounty hunter, Morge Tiro, had given him a traditional Vay'car'nac blade as a gift after a hunting down rogue the rogue Jedi Ti Tekklet and his apprentice Corbus Detarn. The blade was perfectly shaped, its two edges coming together in a precise point sharp enough to cut flesh with just a touch. Its balance was flawless and it felt nearly weightless in his finishing touch was a blade forged from a mix of traditional beskar'gam and cortosis. It was the finest form of a masterpiece. "I'm envious of an inanimate object now." He mused as he turned the blade over in his fingers. "At least this blade has a job to do." He said quietly. He sat up in the seat of his assault shuttle _Claw_ and gazed out at the brightly lit world of Coruscant below.

"Landing approved." Came the disinterested approval of the landing attendant. Fay'ele'talinshae punched in the landing procedure. He was going to join the Jedi Order and finally put his "talents" to use for a purpose bigger than himself. All he needed was to get an audience with Luke Skywalker, the most powerful Jedi who ever lived, and ask if he could join their legendary order.

"Shouldn't be a problem." He thought sardonically.

It turned out to be a far bigger problem than he ever thought. War often tended to clear out underground and criminal contacts like someone resetting a dejarik board. Fay'ele'talinshae had spent the last two days looking up every lowlife that he knew in Coruscant's enormous underworld. Jacen Solo's purges had either put every contact in the ground, or to wary of capture to remember old debts. Finally, Fay'ele'talinshae admitted defeat to the coming evening and his own hunger and decided to search for a late dinner. He knew of a little local diner that was nearby and made his way towards it. After a few minutes walk, he came upon the legendary _Dex's Diner_. The place had been burned down, twice. However, three government changes and two planetary invasions had not kept its ancient Besalisk proprietor from reopening his doors whenever things cooled down enough for him to have the opportunity. He entered into the well-lit interior of the eatery and noted that he was the sole patron. An enormous reptilian head poked its way out of the kitchen. "Go ahead and grab a seat, if you can squeeze in." Dexter Jettster said with a chuckle. "I'll be with ya in a moment." Fay'ele'talinshae selected a stool along the long bar and flipped the diner's extensive holomenu up. He selected an item from the menu and a few moments later, Dex came and took his order. Soon after, Dex returned with his order and placed some steaming and rich-smelling concoction before him, which he ate eagerly. After he finished, he sat alone at the bar quietly pondering his next move. His contacts were exhausted and his credits would soon follow. It wouldn't be difficult to find work on-world, but he could see no feasible way of ever getting an audience with Master Luke Skywalker. His disappointment at that thought must have shown on his canine features, because Dex soon came back out of the Kitchen carrying a cup of Jawa Juice in each of his four enormous hands. "On the house." Dex said, as he placed one glass in front of Fay'ele'talinshae and the others in front of himself as he maneuvered his enormous bulk atop one of the stools." I've been working this diner for nearly a century," Dex said, a reflective look coming into his eyes. "and I know when a gentlebeing is having a rough day. Although," Dex siad, taking in Fay'ele'talinshae's armor-weave bodysuit, as well as the blasters and lightsabers beneath his black cloak. "I doubt the problem is with the missus." The joke briefly drained Fay'ele'talinshae of some of the gloom he was feeling.

"A lack of purpose." Fay'ele'talinshae commented after a moment of silence and a sip of the bitter drink.

"Ahh." The large Besalisk intoned." Something not nearly as serious. Well if it's purpose you seek, I have some dishes in my sink that I have no desire to clean." Dex replied with a chuckle. "However, I believe that you are seeking a deeper purpose than cleaning dirty cutlery."

Fay'ele'talinshae laughed again and nodded. "I have gone from one end of the galaxy doing this and that and have never done anything that truly made a me feel like it's what I was meant to do."

"Well young feller I too have traveled one end of this galaxy to the other and have discovered that when it comes to purpose, it tends to find you if you just keep looking." Dex said with more wisdom than his scruffy appearance would have ever allowed one to believe was possible. Fay'ele'talinshae took the words as both advice and encouragement, and resolved himself to keep searching for a purpose, even if it wasn't with the Jedi."It's getting late young feller." Dex stated to break the silence." Where are ya staying tonight, maybe I can give ya a lift?"

"My ship is docked on level 1437." Fay'ele'talinshae said, gathering up his travel bag and tossing the appropriate credit chips on the counter for his dinner.

"That's over a hundred levels up!" Dex exclaimed. "Just sleep in the diner tonight then you can be on your way in the morning."

Fay'ele'talinshae was both surprised and pleased by the offer, as the journey would take him another hour or two if he could get a repulsor cab, longer if he didn't. "Thanks Dex. I don't know how I can ever repay you. I don't have any extra credits."

"Well…" Dex said slowly motion with two of his wrinkled hands toward the kitchen. "...there are still those dishes."

Fay'ele'talinshae smiled and chuckled "Perhaps the universe has granted me a purpose." He said, as he slid off his cloak and made his way toward the kitchen.

"By the way young feller, I never got your name." Dex said with a curiosity on his face.

"My birth name is Fay'ele'talinshae, but you can just call me Shae." Shae said with a grin.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Dex moved off into a small office to gather up the day's profits while Shae scooped up the dishes and moved off into the kitchen. Dex had perhaps understated the quantity of dirty cutlery, but Shae had done worse, far worse, and picked up a turbo scrubber beside the sink and began the menial task without complaint. "Ay lad, why don't you come in here a minute. I almost forgot I had some Uju Cake leftover and I'm gonna throw it out if you don't eat it. " Dex called out from the restaurant parlor. Shae hadn't had the sweet, moist cake in ages and decided that throwing it away would be an unforgivable crime.

"Be right there!" He returned, as he replaced his cleaning utensils and returned into the parlor, only to be hit with a feeling of foreboding as powerful as a stun blast. Dex caught the look on his face and asked;

"What's the matter?" Instead of a reply Shae lunged forward with size and power that would seem impossible for someone of his meager six-foot height and frame, pushing the enormous Besalisk to the ground. A cry of surprise and rage rang from the unhappy reptiloid, but it was cut off as a hail of blaster fire annihilated the window Dex had occupied a second before and cut a black furrow into the wall behind them. " Fierfek, I just had the walls repainted!" Dex cried out as a figure came crashing in through the blank space the window had occupied. Shae grunted as a body landed on top of him. He suddenly found himself face-to-face with the wolf-like features of another S'vithilin that took his breath away. A mostly blue furred head and back stopped short at white ears which carried into a white furred face with violet eyes that contrasted in an exoctic and shocking manner.

"Uuuuhhhh." Shae mumbled at the face that had suddenly within inches of his his own.

"Get down, stay down, and shut up!" The S'vithilin shouted back and leapt atop the table. It was then Shae noted the tan Jedi robes she wore and the purple lightsaber ignited in her hands batting back blaster bolts at their attackers. She then leapt back through the window, her lightsaber blurring back and forth faster than the eye could follow. Shae slid his blaster pistol out of his holster, and peered around the meager cover of the ruined window frame. A speeder truck roared down the road away from the diner before wheeling around and screaming straight for the Jedi in the road. Blaster fire sprayed relentlessly from its side window. With an almost casual ease, she flicked her violet lightsaber into a straight flight at the truck and initiated a graceful leap over the oncoming vehicle that would have made even the most prodigiously talented gymnast jealous. The blade passed through the port repulsor and the vehicle's left side crashed into the ground, skidding to a stop few dozen meters away. The lightsaber returned to its master with the obedience of a trained Nek. She turned around and batted back blaster bolts as she advanced on the downed speeder with seemingly unstoppable force.

"I'm going to go help." Shae said, hefting the blaster and preparing to leap through the window.

"I think the lady may have it under control." Dex replied, his point punctuated by an explosion.

"Jedi can miss things." Shae said as he rolled over to the other side of the diner wall and into the line of fire. Whoever was driving the truck was solely focused on the Jedi Knight attempting to either put them behind bars or into the vibrosaw her lightsaber had become. Shae crept across the street with a quick dash, and then moved through the shadows along the adjacent row of buildings. Suddenly, he noticed something. "Those types of trucks don't have an extra power cell under the aft drive." Shae said quietly to himself as he noted the Jedi's assault growing close and closer to the truck. "Why haven't they dumped the truck and run?" Shae thought to himself. Suddenly, he remembered a stunt some drug runners had pulled on him during his time as an assassin for Turga the Hutt. He made the dash over to the side of the speeder, all pretense of stealth abandoned. The Jedi was walking into a trap that she might not be able to get out of. Luckily for Shae, the driver was more concerned about restoring his vehicle to flying condition and didn't even notice Shae as he crept up beside him and smacked him in the head with the butt of his pistol. The driver slumped over and Shae pulled him out of the seat. He peered around the driver's seat and his worst fears were confirmed. An E-Web repeating blaster was bolted to the floor of the cargo area where a trio of dark figures stood around it. He lined up his shot on the gunner. "Gotcha." Shae whispered to himself as he squeezed the trigger. Before he could complete the pull, a massive blow from an invisible fist smashed into the back doors and blew them open. His shot went off the mark and the Repeating blaster opened up. Shae resighted and dropped the gunner before switching his sight over to the being beside him and put a trio of bolts in his back. The Jedi, who had been temporarily driven back by the surprise attack, lunged into the cargo bay decapitating the third with a powerful sidestroke of her lightsaber. Without warning, Shae felt himself yanked forward and into the cargo area of the truck, the breath leaving his lungs as he landed.

"Drop it." Came the threatening voice of the Jedi. Shae realized that he was still clutching his pistol, and while he considered the idea of explaining that he had saved her and she should be more polite, he decided that haste and smart remarks might make him waste his life. With a sigh, he let the pistol clatter to the floor. Suddenly, a heavy boot was in his spine.

"Easy, I'm on your side!" he said with a gasp. "I'm the one that blasted the guys in the back." She took a second to consider the blaster burns on the bodies and then took a closer look at his face.

"You're the guy from the diner right?" She asked.

"Yeah that was me!" Shae said, frustration creeping into his voice. His breath was once again stolen from him as the boot pressed harder into his back

"Are you Deaf?" She asked. " I told you to stay inside!" She barked.

"Yeah well did you see the repeater coming?" Shae asked struggling to gather his breath. She once again considered Shae's statement with a look of skepticism before removing her boot from his spine. He stood up and muttered an insult in Huttese that didn't flatter her intelligence. The remark was extremely degrading and Shae knew it had been wrong deep down, but he let his frustration with the unpleasant situation get the better of him. "Besides, what are the odds she speaks Huttese?" He thought to himself. He suddenly realized it was 1/1 as her backhand almost lifted him off of his feet. He came away rubbing his smarting snout. "From where I come from, that's a sign of affection." Shae said with a smirk, and almost instantly regretted the smart remark as her hand moved back almost faster than the eye could see to hit him again, when they were interrupted by a odd groaning sound from the cockpit and turned to look at its source.

Nalasee Basar reared back her clawed hand to smack some sense into the unhelpful vigilante when a groan came from the cockpit. She stopped and pushed by the S'vithilin and into the cockpit. "I'm going to arrest you for something." She said as she climbed into the cockpit. "If you run, you'll regret the day whatever gave birth to you taught you to open that useless mouth of yours." She added, dropping into the pilot seat.

"Things were just getting good." He said with sarcasm dripping in his voice. "I think I'll have to stay."

Although she doubted she would arrest him or gave him the beating he richly deserved, she hoped it would keep the obnoxious pest out of her fur long enough for her to follow up her lead. This was her first solo assignment since becoming a full-fledged Jedi Knight, and she had no intention of letting some loud mouth merc ruin two months of hard detective work. She looked down at the pilot, a scruffy-looking antlered Tiberoon with an eyepatch. She squatted down until she was eye level with him. She scooped up the blaster pistol lying on the ground beside him and stared into his three slowly reawakening eyes. "You will tell me who you are working for." She said, putting a force suggestion into her words.

"Not in many year." Came the Tiberoon's reply in broken basic. She hadn't ever been particularly skilled in the Jedi mindtrick, but she had been more than capable of using it on any species she had encountered in her brief career. She tried again, putting more emphasis into her voice;

"You will tell me who you are working for."

"Do what want, but I no tell." Again came the Tiberoon's response.

"Tiberoon are impervious to Force suggestion" Came the now familiar voice of the cocky merc from behind her. Instead of questioning his obvious lack of judgement in coming up to the front of the truck, she instead shot back:

"Then what would you suggest? Asking really nicely?" She asked, the venom obvious in her voice.

"You just gotta speak in terms they understand." He said, as he moved and squatted down beside her. She shot him a look that could kill, but he ignored it and preceded to speak in a rapid string of what sounded like gibberish to her, but was obviously more intelligible to the Tiberoon than basic. As the conversation went on, she stared at the merc from behind, allowing her curiosity to overtake her manners. She had been taken from her homeworld of S'vith before she could remember, and had never seen another member of her own species. She wondered if he had come from another region of the world, due to the drastically different black fur on his back and grey chest and facial fur. He was significantly shorter and thinner than her as well, but not in a way that made him seem skinny. However, the physical trait that most stuck out were his emerald green eyes. Despite the cheerful demeanor he showed, those emeralds seemed sad and dark. Finally, she allowed her observations to be put to rest and attempted to focus on the conversation. The Tiberoon look surprised at hearing his native tongue in a foreigner's mouth and quickly replied to the merc's questioning. The merc said something in a darker tone and the Tiberoon looked shaken at the words.

"District 447-L! In large storehouse! Please no do!" The Tiberoon replied, terror in his voice.

"I won't." She said, having no idea what she was agreeing to. The Tiberoon seemed to relax as she pulled out her comlink and called back to the Jedi temple. "Master, I have the location but I don't have a way to get there." She said into the tiny microphone, repeating the location the Tiberoon had given her. "Send some Jedi over there and something to pick me up when you get the chance." The reply assured her it would be done and she cut off the communique. She slapped a pair of stun cuffs on the Tiberoon then sat down to await her ride. After a few minutes of silence, her curiosity again got the better of her and she asked the merc a question. "How did you get him to talk?"

"I told him you'd cut of his antlers if you didn't. They're kinda a sign of male power for them and they don't grow back." He said casually.

"I would never do that!" She almost shouted, her shock and embarrassment showing on her face. The merc shrugged his shoulders and simply said:

"He didn't know that." She stared at him blankly for a second then put up her hands up in a sign of surrender. She admitted to herself that she couldn't have gotten the information without him, and she might have been killed had he not gotten the drop on the E-Web gunner.

"Look, I think we got of on the wrong foot. Nalasee Basar" She said extending her clawed-hand. He stared at her with skepticism, but decided to let it go and accept the peace offering.

"Sorry for being a smart mouth." He said taking her hand "Fay'ele'talinshae."

"Fai, Faye, Fayl?" She said stumbling over the name. He briefly looked surprised at the mispronunciation but then laughed.

"You can just call me Shae." He said with a smile.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The next half hour was spent in relative silence, which was only broken by the distant hum of speeder traffic and the general buzz of the city, until the sounds of an airspeeder approaching their location roused them from their stupor. Shae and Basar exited the ruined speeder truck and saw an enclosed airspeeder with Jedi markings coming to an easy landing. The door opened and a man with close-cropped brown hair in Jedi robes appeared alongside a teenage female similarly attired. "Master Korr!" Basar said, the surprise evident in her voice. "I thought you would be examining the warehouse instead of picking me up."

"When you said you didn't have a ride back to the temple I was a little concerned, so I decided to come check up on you myself. I always make time for former students in trouble, you know that." Master Korr said with a thin but still friendly smile. Shae stood of to the side, feeling a little like a friend in the midst of a family reunion, but held his peace a few feet away from the conversation. However, Basar had not soon forgotten her apology or appreciation and spoke up on his behalf.

"I might have been in genuine trouble if not for the help of Shae." She said, indicating him with her hand and giving a brief description of the what had happened. Master Korr turned to face Shae and gave a small bow of respect.

"Thank you Shae, for stepping in to help." Master Korr said politely.

"It was really nothing." Shae said, his more natural shyness showing in his reply. Master Korr turned to the apprentice and instructed her to load the Tiberoon into the airspeeder and turned to leave. On the spur of the moment, Shae realized a unique opportunity had been handed to him. "Master Korr, hold up a second." He shouted at the Jedi Master. Korr turned around, slightly surprised, but with plenty of patience left to spare for the stranger. "I have something to return to Grand Master Skywalker." Shae said, resulting in a raised eyebrow from Korr. Basar had now taken notice of their exchange and had briefly abandoned work on sorting things out with Coruscanti Police Department to observe. Shae pulled his precious cargo out from under his cloak and showed it to Korr. The Krayt Dragon Pearl handled lightsaber of Ti Tekklet resting in his hand was more than enough of a calling card to grab Korr's attention.

"Where did you find this?" Korr asked quietly.

"I took it after Boba Fett killed him to collect the bounty on his head." Shae replied. "I'd be willing to share the whole story, but only to Master Skywalker." Shae added. Korr caught his drift and stared at Shae with a look intending to see how far Shae would be willing to take this matter. Korr must have seen only resolve, because after a moment more he said;

"I'll have it arranged." He turned and spoke to Basar. "Nalasee I have some business to attend to with your new friend. Finish up the situation here, then report back to the temple. Good job tonight." Although slightly confused, Basar give a courteous bow and replied

"Of course master." and proceeded to finish cleaning up the crime scene. Korr ushered Shae inside the airspeeder and took the seat beside him. Korr then ordered the droid pilot to return to the temple, and they began the long ride up to the surface. Shae spent a short while simply staring out the window. A river of colors streamed by the window from the millions of lighted advertisements posted across the city. He then took notice of the Jedi in the adjacent seat taking a deep interest in him. Korr wasn't staring, but Shae could feel the attention as clearly as if he had a microscope on him. He wondered if Jedi could read the thoughts of Force sensitive beings, as well as the non-Force sensitive ones. He decided that his concerns were unwarranted either way since, in this case, he had nothing to hide. Finally, they broke though the last level before the surface and turned toward the city center. Far in the distance, Shae saw it. The enormous ziggurat of the Jedi Temple dominated the skyscape around it, its four corner towers stood like vigilant watchmen guarding their domain. Even from a distance, being near it made him feel safe, not at home, but safe. Korr took notice of his gaze.

"I've seen it a thousand times and still can't find the words to describe it." The Jedi Master said, with an almost loving tone in his voice.

"I don't think you could get a protocol droid to do it justice." Shae replied in an equally impressed tone. It felt like an eternity before they finally settled down on a landing pad near the south side. Korr stepped out of the airspeeder and motioned for Shae to follow a word, Shae obeyed the Jedi and followed him inside the structure. Thousands of pillars seemed to crowd Shae like the forests he had seen on his homeworld of S'vithil IV. The darkness of the temple, combined with distant footsteps and other implacable sounds furthered the feeling. Shae didn't realize he had stopped to marvel until a frustrated look from Korr got him moving again. Suddenly he had the presence of mind to check the small wrist chrono for the time. He groaned internally as 3:33 stared back at his face. "Great, I'm waking up the head of the Jedi order at three in the morning to tell him I killed one of their students and wanted to join their order, no problems with that." He thought annoyedly to himself. Finally, they left the hall and climbed inside a turbolift, which they rode up an indiscernible distance, before they left it again for what seemed like living quarters. They looked typical of what Shae had seen in any officer's barracks, and he wondered if they were just passing through the padawan's quarters before entering the chambers of the masters. This thought was proved completely wrong when they stopped in front of a door no different than any other, and Korr pressed the buzzer. Shae heard stumbling footsteps before the door slid open to reveal one of the most important men in galactic history. His characteristic blonde hair was greyed at the fringes, and lines that seemed to be an equal mix of worry and laugh crossed his face. Perhaps a faint trace of youthful energy still lit his face, and his eyes showed the fire of the 19 year-old boy from Tatooine. However, he still looked similar to any man over the age of 60 who had been awoken far too early. "Master Skywalker." Shae said slightly flustered. "My name is Fay'ele'talinshae and I have come…" Skywalker cut him off mid sentence with a raised palm.

"Your name and story both demand caf, lots of it too. Come inside and you can tell me your tale." Skywalker said slightly sleepily. " Goodnight Jaden." Skywalker said offering a small wave to the Jedi who had delivered him to the Grand Master. A nod from Jaden Korr was his only goodbye before departing. Shae followed Skywalker inside and looked around the room, curious as to what the Grand Master of the Jedi Order chose to keep as personal possessions. They, like the room, were sparse. Outside of a few family holostills, an ancient looking lightsaber, and a few other seemingly inconsequential odds and ends, the room was devoid of homely items. Skywalker disappeared into the kitchen and returned a moment later with a mug in his hand. "Caf?" Skywalker asked, offering the mug.

"No thanks." Shae replied politely. Skywalker shrugged and said

"Suit yourself. Now I believe you have an account of how a former Jedi Master's lightsaber came into your possession." Shae began to recount the tale, not skipping a single detail. It took almost an hour and a half to recount it all and when Shae had finished, Master Skywalker leaned back in his chair. "I appreciate what you and the other bounty Hunters did Shae." Master Skywalker said after a moment. "You resisted the darkness that was within you, something you can see even some Jedi Masters cannot do. Is there anything the Jedi can do for you?" Master Skywalker asked. There it was. The opportunity he had been seeking.

"Master Skywalker, I have spent the last 15 years of my life searching for who I am and what I'm supposed to do. I feel compelled by the Force to come and use my abilities to help the galaxy. I want to become a Jedi so I can serve others." Shae said unhesitantly. Skywalker seemed surprised by his request at first, but after a moments consideration replied: "I can feel you are strong in the Force, and I sense that you have some part to play in the future of the galaxy Shae. Many years ago my father stood before a Jedi council with the same hope as you have. His request brought many things, good and bad, but just as it was the will of the Force then for him to join the Jedi, so is it the will of the Force for you to join the Jedi now. I grant your request, you shall learn to become a Jedi."


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

The next few months of life flew by for Shae. No master arose to teach Shae on his or her own, so he received instruction from numerous Masters and Knights. While he gave up possession of Tekklet's and his apprentice's lightsaber, he maintained possession of his own saber. The Jade colored lightsaber, which had once been carried by a Force sensitive assassin who had been used to test Shae shortly before his duel with Tekklet, was among the few possessions he maintained at the temple. Often his training consisted solely of lightsaber training, with some teaching of Jedi doctrine and rarely, the use of the Force. Despite his obvious strength in the Force, its use came somewhat unnaturally to him outside of saber combat. This lead to lightsaber combat becoming an almost therapeutic exercise for him, and he would often go and spend extra time after training to practice his technique. One day, after a particularly grueling meditation session, Shae made his way down to the training lounge to take his frustrations out on remotes. As he walked into the large training dojo, he noticed Nalasee Basar standing in the middle of the room in front of a small Proxy class training droid. "Enjoying your toys?" She asked, a smirk crossing her maw. Shae shot her a nasty look. He didn't know why the comment irked him so much, and the intelligent part of him begged him to let the comment drop.

"What are you running on that Proxy droid, a drunk gungan?" Shae said returning the smirk.

"If you think it's so easy why don't you try it?" Nalasee returned coolly. Outwardly Shae's expression remained neutral, but inwardly fear weaseled its way into his countenance. Shae was prodigiously talented with a saber true, but he didn't dare try to match talent with Nalasee's experience and own considerable skill. Whatever level the droid was on was far above his own, and while the training sabers didn't maim, they would leave a person on the floor drooling for a few hours.

"Fire it up!" Shae said, his outward confidence far higher than his internal. Nalasee shrugged and, pulling a remote from her belt, flicked the droid to life. Its mechanical face was slowly covered by that of a youthful human's with short light brown hair and a padawan's braid."Where'd this program come from?" Shae asked suspiciously.

"I don't know, it's Master Skywalker's droid. I just sliced it." Basar said casually. Inside Shae's whisper of dissent turned into a full on scream. However, he pushed his concern down and prepared to face down the droid.

"You underestimate my power!" The droid roared, face contorted in rage, as it lunged toward Shae with a sweeping downward strike that would have cleaved a starfighter in half.

"Cute." Shae grunted as he rolled and countered with a lightning quick series of strikes intended to put the droid off balance until Shae could think of a strategy. The droid didn't buy it, and after the third strike in Shae's attack, smashed Shae's green blade aside and countered with a vengeful series of strikes that halted, and pushed back Shae's advance. Shae leapt back into the wall, and pushed off of it to front flip over the droid. The move caught it by surprise and Shae was able to thrust his blade at the droid's midsection. However, the droid wasn't there, moving impossibly fast as it leapt sideways into a roll that turned evolved into a spinning cut that would have decapitated Shae, training saber or not, had Shae not stepped inside and brought his wrist up to catch his opponents wrist on his own. Shae followed it with a strike intended to bifurcate the droid. With seemingly impossible strength the droid rotated away from the emerald blade, simultaneously flattening his own blade in an attempt to slash down on Shae's head. Shae was forced to drop the saber in order to buy himself a second chance, coming away scorched, but not down. He faced off against his opponent, hatred equally in his opponent's holoprojected eyes as in his own. He realized that, even with his force-enhanced conditioning, he had no hope of winning a battle of endurance with the droid. He decided to stake it all on one move and leapt through the air, lightsaber arcing in a decapitating strike, as his opponent mirrored the attack. They met mid-air and passed by each other, their best blows exchanged. Shae stood, his back to his opponent, wondering if the adrenaline in his body would fade as he collapsed to the floor. Instead, he heard the satisfying CHUNK of the droids head clattering to the floor. He stood up, and gave a salute to Nalasee before turning around and walking out. As he entered the primary control room, he mopped his face with a nearby towel and leaned his hands on the control console breathing hard. He touched his face in the spot where the Proxy droid had caught him. It smarted to the touch, but he was glad that not only had he not wound up a vegetable on the floor, but had actually managed to beat a program on Luke Skywalker's training droid. Suddenly, the COMBAT IN PROCESS light flicked on in the control booth. Shae laughed to himself. Maybe Nalasee was trying to beat the droid to prove she was just as good, except that droid was disabled. Shae stopped short of leaving and began moving down to the combat room. He entered the waiting room to see Nalasee setting up a big black combat droid holding a live red lightsaber." Nalasee wait!" Shae shouted, but it was too late. The droid flickered to life. It seemed to grow a foot taller, it's faced replaced with an angular black mask, a black cape arching down its shoulders. The room was suddenly filled with an ominous mechanical breathing.

"Vader program activated" Came over the room's PA system, as the doors slammed shut. Shae was now caught in the waiting room, an inch-thick steel door between him and Nalasee. Shae watched as the black cloaked figure advanced on Nalasee. Shae realized that, regardless of Nalasee's skill, that droid was based on something very dark, which was fully capable of killing her. He snapped on his lightsaber and began cutting away at the door. Vader, as he assumed the program was called, sat back and allowed Nalasee to charge in with a flurry of strikes that Shae couldn't even track with his eyes. Vader countered all of them as if it was swatting flies, but didn't advance. Shae suddenly realized that the thing was just was just toying with her. He hurried his efforts. Whenever it got bored, Nalasee wouldn't last long. Suddenly it finished toying with her, as it countered one of Nalasee's strikes and started an advance as methodical and unstoppable as a tidal wave. Vader battered down Nalasee's defenses and finally swung with a powerful right slash that sent her saber spinning from her hands. To her credit, she stared at her downfall without fear in her eyes. Shae was relieved when his saber finished cutting through the door, but he had no way of reaching Nalasee in time, except… the door! Shae reached out in the force, envisioning the actions he wanted. The door lifted off the ground, moving slowly at first, but then picked up speed as it hurtled toward the masked figure. It struck it in the chest with the force of an oncoming air speeder and sent it flying across the dojo. Nalasee looked relieved for an instant, but it passed as Vader got back up and brought its saber back into the en garde position. Recalling her lightsaber to her hand, Nalasee and Shae charged as one, Shae allowing his charge to carry into a vicious series of attacks while Nalasee performed a frontflip to get behind Vader and swinging at the thing's knees. Impossibly, Vader was in two places at once, kicking Shae in the face halting and his attack, then pivoting to block Nalasee's attack and countering with another methodical advance. Shae forced the black at the edges of his vision to go away, and again attacked, this time more conservatively. However, Vader was capable of stopping both Shae and Nalasee's attacks, blocking one then, the other with mechanical precision. Nalasee was already tired from Vader's previous assault, so the droid's emotionless fury now focused on Shae. Shae tried to counter the blows and lead them into an attack, but Vader was simply too quick. Shae found himself giving ground, and Nalasee was incapable of pushing her advantage as her energy left her. Vader turned and smashed his saber hilt into Nalasee's face and she hit the ground unmoving. Shae cried out, but it was cut short as Vader smashed Shae's blade from his hands and lifted him by his throat. Shae looked down into the cold black eyes of Vader. He wasn't afraid to die. He awaited the inevitable, heard the swing of the saber, but didn't feel its fire penetrate his stomach. He hadn't realized his eyes had been closed until he opened them to see again. Vader was halfway through its strike, a yellow lightsaber protruding from its stomach. It's hand let go of Shae's throat and he hit the ground in a pile. Vader toppled to the ground revealing Jaden Korr standing behind him, yellow saberstaff in hand.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Korr looked first at Nalasee, then at Shae."Either of you wanna explain what happened here?" He asked in a way that made it clear it was an order, and not a question.

"It was me Master Korr." Nalasee said, cutting off whatever Shae had been about to say, and telling the events in their entirety. "I let my own arrogance cloud my judgement. It should never have happened. Shae stepped in to save me from my own mistake. I'll be willing to take whatever punishment the masters see fit as long as Shae is left out." Nalasee knew she had probably just thrown her 12 years of training out the window. Being bounced down to the Agricultural Corps would be her best case scenario. And for what? For a stranger she had just met out of pure chance a few months ago? "Because it's the right thing to do." Came a voice from seemingly nowhere. The voice inside her head didn't seem like hers, but regardless, she knew it was right. Korr looked at both of them, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I need to take some time and think about this. In the meantime, I would suggest you both go to your quarters and see if, just maybe, you could keep from burning the temple down." Nalasee gave a curt, but proper bow and the customary

"Yes master." before leaving the room, Shae following behind her. They moved together down the halls of the Jedi Temple in silence.

"Thanks for what you did back there." Shae said, breaking the quiet. "That took a lot of guts, and I know what that probably cost you." Nalasee bit back a sharp reply and instead simply said; "It was the right thing to do." Their journey through the long halls continued in silence, even when Shae stopped at his own room he didn't bother to say goodbye. Nalasee finished a seemingly eternal walk to her own quarters and entered, locking the door behind her. She began to gather up her meager possessions. The sobering task made her realize how little she had in worldly possessions and how oddly symbolic it was .Her whole life was dedicated to the Jedi, and now it was gone with very little else to her name. She finished packing and took one last look at the room where she had her entire life. Almost as if waiting for her to finish, her comlink buzzed.

"The Jedi Council wants to speak to you and Fay'ele'talinshae immediatly." Came the male voice from the comlink.

"I'll be right there." She replied and, with a sigh, went up to meet her fate. She met Shae in the turbolift, who looked equally grim about their fate.

"Where will you go from here?" She asked bluntly

"Probably go back to bounty hunting I guess." Shae said with a discouraged shrug."I thought this would finally be a chance to do some good in the galaxy. Just not in the cards I guess. How 'bout you? All you've ever known is the Jedi." To be honest, she didn't know, but before she could explain that, the lift doors opened to reveal the short hallway between them, and the ornately decorated arched entryway into the Council chambers. A younger Mon Calamari Jedi Knight stood at the doorway and pushed the control panel as they walked up to the doors. Inside the circular room sat the 10 most powerful Jedi in the galaxy, as well as Master Korr who stood in the center. Bracing herself for the inevitable, she wasn't afraid. She had no intention of cowering before the council. Grand Master Luke Skywalker stared at her, grim determination lacing his face.

"Jedi Basar we've brought you here to update your assignment. We are going to put you in full control of the Collmeet Incorporated case." Nalasee fought with all her might to keep her jaw from dropping. Her eyes darted to her left to see Master Korr, but all she caught was what might have been a quick wink before Master Skywalker continued. "Master Korr please briefly outlay what you discovered about Collmeet." Nalasee knew the name well. The company had been a suspected narcotics dealer in the Coruscant underworld, and the rumors had been proved right. She had seen them loading thousands of packages full of drugs aboard trucks and had followed one of them to try and find where they had been going, which had led her to Shae.

"Masters." Korr said activating a small holoprojector. showing an image of a grey, run-down industrial factory from the outside. "Jedi Basar's theory was proven correct. Collmeet was producing high quantities of zicofilotine." The projector changed to a list of the ingredients as Nalasee shuddered a little. She had seen the drug and knew full well its aftereffects. Its properties and "medicinal" uses were almost exactly the same as cheap glitterstim, except it was roughly 10 times as addictive. It also almost completely nullified the user to pain and trebeled their strength. The final and most harmful effect was it made the user extremely susceptible to suggestion. This lead to an army of super strong, mindless warriors completely obedient to the dealer. However, the users would often disintegrate physically, rapidly leading to a need for a lot of beings. She knew it by its street name: Rumble-drug.

"Master Korr, isn't zicofilotine extremely difficult to make?" Nalasee asked. " They would need an expert in bioengineering just to create it." She added. Korr clicked the remote and the image changed again to a female Sullustan dressed in a white lab coat with a black hole in her forehead.

"Meet Lanna Lopa, bioengineer from the University of Sullust, reported missing and presumed dead six months ago. We think the ones creating it kidnapped her and forced her to make the stuff. When Jedi Basar showed up, they shot her to keep her from talking." Nalasee felt a brief pang of guilt. If she had been more careful, maybe she could have saved her. Nalasee wondered if she had a family, until Master Korr interrupted her thoughts when he continued. "The kidnapping of Dr. Lopa, and the high production cost of zicofilotine, made us realize it had to be an intergalactic organization."

"The Hutts aren't strong enough to put on something like this, and neither is Black Sun." Kyle Katarn said.

"We believe it is a new group simply called _The League_." Korr replied. "They are an offshoot of Black Sun and we think they are lead by this Falleen." The image changed again, resolving itself into the image of a handsome Fallen with his bio beside the image. As she read down, she saw a statement that seemed out of place.

"Master Korr I think it's a misprint, but it says this Fallen has been dead for 30 years."Basar said.  
"No misprint. Prince Xizor was believed dead when his Skyhook exploded over Coruscant before the Battle of Endor." Korr said grimly. "However, we have reviewed the communication logs from the facility we investigated, and we are sure now that it is either a clone, impersonator, or him. A body was never found in the debris, so it is possible that he is still alive." Korr Skywalker then took over.

"Jedi Basar, your assignment is to follow this as far as it goes. You will have whatever resources you need. You must find out what _The League_ is planning and if Xizor is still alive. " Skywalker turned to Shae, who had been sitting quietly listening until this point. Fay'ele'talinshae, you are to accompany Jedi Basar as an agent of the Jedi in her investigation. Your knowledge of the galactic underworld and criminal contacts will be invaluable to her, as will your experience. Master Korr will work out any details or resources you need. Agent Fay'ele'talinshae, Jedi Basar, may the Force be with you."


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

For the first time in her life, Nalasee Basar felt awkward. Her Jedi robes, swapped for a blue and black armor-weave bodysuit with similarly colored armor plates attached, felt foreign and heavy. She felt completely out of place in the dingy bar on Falleen, where her and Shae had begun their investigation. Nalasee had never ventured into any place like it. It's dark interior, lit only by a few dim orange lights that blinded her made her feel cold. The place was almost entirely filled with Fallen, most of whom worked in the nearby industrial sector. In the corner, a Jizz band consisting of a Sullustan and two Biths struggled to have their slow melancholy tune be heard over the dull roar of the crowd."Relax." Shae said from across the dirty table. "Your drawing attention, in more ways than one." He said. Although Shae probably intended for her to relax, the comment further irked her and made her feel as if she stood out more.

"Sorry, not my scene." She replied quietly as she stared into an untouched drink.

"Look, if we're gonna be working together, you gotta learn to blend in." Shae said, raising his own glass to his teeth. "Pretend like it is your scene. Think like your having a good time."

"Why?" Nalasee said, frustration at the situation starting to boil over. "We know that _The League_ owns that storehouse down the street. We know that they're cooking Rumble-drug there. Why not just march in and arrest them?"

"Patience is a Jedi virtue right? Just wait." Shae said relaxing in his chair. The move and comment pushed Nalasee over the edge.

"I need to go out and get some air." She said angrily as she stormed out of the building. She broke from the smoky and dank air of the bar and looked up into the orange sky. The smell of burning chemicals from the nearby factories was only slightly better than the bar, but better still. She looked down the long permacrete roadway in front of the factories, finding the warehouse their targets had holed up in. Her eyes traced along the rows of buildings, and she noticed the lack of space in between each. "An easy jump." She thought to herself, an idea forming. She began moving toward the end of the industrial row. Finding herself at the far wall of the final building, her eyes swept it with the keen eye of a predator. "Gotcha!" She told herself as her eyes settled on a ladder embedded in the wall. Carefully, she began a quick climb up the ladder. Coming over the final rung, she dropped into a low crouch, checking to ensure the roof was clear. Finding it was, she set off at a low run across the rooftop. She didn't hesitate at the edge of the first building and leaped across the roughly 10 foot gap to the other side without breaking stride. She repeated the process two more times before arriving on top of the warehouse. Her eyes now settled on a pair of figures moving methodically, but discreetly, atop the roof roughly 50 feet from her. "A patrol." She told herself. It appeared as if it was a Weequay, and far more dangerous, a Trandoshan clutching an Imperial Heavy repeater in its claws. Silently, she moved around them, using air ducts mounted on the roof as cover until she closed the distance to within 10 feet. The Weequay's back was turned to her, but the Trandoshan was staring right at her, unmoving, but also unwavering. She wondered if the reptiloid had picked up on her scent, or if it had heat sensitive vision. Either way, she would need a distraction in order to neutralize the Trandoshan. She reached out in the force, finding a small curved stone sitting on the roof in front of the Weequay and, with a sharp twist of her wrist, sent it spinning into the Weequay's forehead. He let out a shortened expletive before collapsing into a heap on the ground. The shocked Trandoshan dropped a hand from his blaster and bent down on one knee to check on his partner, giving Nalasee a chance to leap into the air and come smashing down feet first into the reptiloid's spine. He hit the ground unmoving beside his companion. She quickly pushed their inert bodies out of sight before proceeding across the roof.

Shae moved outside of the bar to grab some fresh air. He didn't like the fact he had to keep Nalasee in the dark, but the bars on Falleen were always bugged, and giving away his entry strategy was not an option. Speaking of Nalasee, where was she? His eyes darted around with growing panic and with a groan, shifted up to the roof. He saw a dark figure leaping across the buildings toward the warehouse.

Nalasee found a ladder that acted as a fire escape for the structure and clambered down it with the silence of a ghost. The ladder terminated roughly ten feet from the ground, so she jumped the remaining short distance. She crept close to a small door and tried the handle. It opened almost noiselessly. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her. She came face-t- face with a permacrete wall that ran up to the ceiling of the warehouse three stories up. The wall had eroded, and numerous holes allowed one to view the other side. She crept close to one hole and dropped to her haunches to peer through as voices came from the other side. A four limbed Mechno-chair stood in front of a short table, a life size figure in an enveloping cloak projected from it. Alongside it stood a Gungan in a white lab coat and a tall thin Mandalorian in blue armor. "Why would they pay a Mando to guard a warehouse?" She thought to herself, as she began to listen to the conversation.

"Thosa rumble-drugs arsa ready for full scale production!" The Gungan said excitedly.

"All relevant materials have been loaded into the repulsor trucks Lord Xizor." The Mando added. "All that's left to ship out are personal."

"Do not forget to destroy the warehouse before you leave. If you can, set the explosives to detonate when someone else opens up the warehouse. That should remove any of the investigators from your trail." Said the Hologram. Without warning, she felt cold hands grasp her shoulders and lift her from the ground. She reacted instantly, smashing her head backwards into her unknown assailants nose with enough force to break a Trandoshans snout. However, instead of smashing into flesh, her head smashed into solid durasteel and stars danced in her head. Blackness crawled across her vision but she battled back against it. Her hand clasped the hilt of the lightsaber at her hip and with a quick flick, she activated it and brought it up onto her assailant's wrist. It skittered off harmlessly, as she suddenly felt the arms heave her into the air before launching her through the permacrete wall and tumbling to a limp stop on the table. This time, the blackness that crossed her vision went by unopposed.

Shae looked down over the clandestine meeting through the skylight of the warehouse. Nalasee was lying on the table, and Shae wondered if he had come too late and the collision had snapped her neck. No. She was still breathing. "Patience." He told himself. He pressed the earpiece deeper into his long pointed ear and turned up the volume.

"Look what we have here Shekel." The blue Mando said to an enormous, vaguely Mandalorian, cyborg stepping through the hole in the wall he had just created. Blue walked up and casually stroked Nalasee's motionless face with a gloved hand. Shae pushed down an urge to leap down guns blazing.

"You can toy around with your pet later Taltin." The Hologram said angrily. "Doctor Liplo." He said to the Gungan." Evacuate you staff and all remaining personal." He then turned to Taltin. "Get rid of her, and keep your eyes out for the other one. The bartender said he wasn't far behind." Taltin began giving orders to Doctor. The Gungan left as the Mechno-chair powered down. He hoped the voice data he had recorded would be enough to match with old records of Xizor, if that was who had been on the other end of the line. He looked down and counted out the remaining guards. Seven, nine if he included Taltin and Shekel, all of whom were armed with either E-11 blaster rifles or smaller pistols. He hoped that maybe Taltin would take Nalasee outside to kill her, leaving them with far fewer guards.

"Should it be fast, or fun?" Taltin said to himself as he withdrew a long knife from his belt and began walking toward her. That tore it. He snapped his lightsaber on and crashed through the glass skylight and into the room.

"How 'bout neither?" He said, jaw clenched in determination. The guards paused for a moment in shock, but Shae didn't as he leaped through the air and decapitated a Bith before pivoting and deflecting two blaster bolts into a Rodian charging him. Taltin moved swiftly for Nalasee, intending to cut his number of threats in half before things got out of hand. Unfortunately for him, Nalasee was an incredible actor and her unconsciousness evaporated like a mist. Her boot caught Taltin in the throat, temporarily stunning him. She called her lightsaber from Taltin's belt with the force and turned to face down Shekel. Shae realized that the Cyborg's prosthetics were made from Beskar'gam and that hacking at it with a saber would be useless. Shae moved to help but a pair of Grans cut him off and began firing at him. He batted their bolts back and looked over to see Nalasee grasping the remains of the wall with the Force and pulling it on top of Shekel. The Cyborg was buried underneath the rubble almost instantly. He flipped over the Grans and with one swift motion, cut one in half and bifurcated the other. However, Taltin had rejoined the fight and was pouring fire at Shae with a powerful hand blaster. Nalasee meanwhile advanced on the remaining guards lightsaber in hand. His attention focused on Taltin, Shae only knew what happened by the screams of the two guards before the third's body landed in a heap a few feet away from him. He and Nalasee advanced on Taltin.

"Drop it Taltin, you're done here." Nalasee said, pointing her lightsaber at him

"Sorry to disappoint you." Taltin said as Shekel suddenly exploded from the rubble and scooped his partner up in his thick metallic arms before shrieking through the far wall of the warehouse on rocket boots.

"Go after them." Nalasee shouted. "I'll get the speeder." Shae nodded and sprinted through the gap of the warehouse wall. He looked up at the fleeing mercenaries as they clambered onto the roof and dashed out of sight. Shae's eyes fell on the ladder of the fire escape above his head and leapt for it. He caught the bottommost rung before scrambled along the ladder with incredible speed and emerging on the roof. Ahead, he saw Taltin and Shekel running on foot far ahead. He sprinted after them. Suddenly, the building rocked under him and a brilliant flash sent Shae sprawling on the roof.

"The Charges!" He thought to himself. He scrambled up, abandoning hope of catching them and sprinting for the other side of the warehouse. "Basar, I'm going to need a pickup on the far side of the warehouse!" Shae shouted into his comlink.

"On it." Came her crisp reply. Shae sprinted with all his might as he felt the structure collapsing beneath him. He came to the edge and leaped. What he thought might be a fall to his death ended far shorter than he thought it would, when he crashed into the passenger seat of the speeder he had rented. He sat up and looked over to see Nalasee pushing the craft for altitude.

"Up there!" Shae shouted, pointing out a red repulsor truck rocketing away from behind the crumbling remains of the warehouse. Nalasee whipped the craft around and pushed its throttles to their stops. Shae was slammed back into the seat as it quickly gained ground on the slower repulsor truck. The pilot of the repulsor truck seemed to suddenly notice their presence and began swerving in and out of traffic. Nalasee matched every move as if she knew it before the pilot and continued to close. Taltin leaned out the window began firing back at his pursuers. Shae stood up,using his meager force powers to help balance on the bucking speeder, and deflected the bolts away. "Can you get me over the Truck?" Shae asked. Nalasee nodded and pushed the craft upward. The speeder pulled even and, with a leap of faith, Shae jumped from the speeder. He slammed into the repulsor truck, the air leaving his lungs, but he held on. He clambered toward the cockpit. Suddenly, the truck whipped out of traffic and screamed toward a pair of skyscrapers. Shae gulped, as the craft flipped onto its side and left Shae dangling from its roof. As the buildings closed her realized he wasn't going to make it through. He suddenly realized he had two choices, sidewalk paste or scraped into a red smear along the building. He chose the former, and let go, freefalling.

Nalasee looked down as Shae fell from the truck. She realized that she had a choice, and she had to make it quickly. If she saved Shae, she would lose the truck. With a frustrated groan she pushed the craft into a steep dive toward Shae as he tumbled downward. With a quick maneuver, she swooped under Shae and caught him in the speeder. She pulled hard on the stick and the craft came to a screaming halt mere meters from the ground. Nalasee looked up into the sky, but the speeder truck was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Discouragement nearly overwhelmed Shae as he and Nalasee walked the opulent white streets of Ravelin. Despite the assurances of Nalasee that the failure on Falleen fell squarely on both their shoulders, Shae still felt largely responsible for the debacle. He should have explained the strategy and the reasons for not communicating to Nalasee as soon as they had touched down planetside. His stunt with the repulsor truck was just as bad of a decision, as patience would most likely have yielded them their two informants. Instead, they had come to Basiton, and Shae wished for a dark alley to slink into. The high life of the galaxy's wealthiest and most powerful individuals had always made Shae uncomfortable. The realization that he was representing the Jedi Order to a foreign power had redoubled that affect. He was glad that, at least Nalasee seemed perfectly comfortable in their present situation. Back in her Jedi robes, albeit lightsaberless for diplomatic reasons, she looked every bit as regal and confident as Grand Master Skywalker himself. "Why do we need to meet with a retired Imperial admiral again?" Shae said, his discomfort demanding a conversation to take his mind off his concerns.

"Admiral Amiston served in Imperial intelligence for over half a century and specialized in criminal organizations." Nalasee replied "He also just happened to have been a lieutenant on board the _Executioner_ when it destroyed Xizor's skyhook and oversaw the search for him afterwards. He's our best lead at this point." Nalasee added

"He's our only lead." Shae corrected as they rounded a towering skyscraper and begin walking through a perfectly manicured park. "Anything else I should know?" Shae asked. A sarcastic comment rose to Nalasee's lips, but died there and instead was replaced with a serious look.

"He hates Jedi, and aliens." She resigned.

"Perfect." Shae said, irritation seeping through his voice. With nothing else to be said, the conversation ended and Shae took to examining the city. He never liked the sprawling metropolises of the galaxy, instead preferring the quiet countrysides and peaceful mountains that reminded him of his homeworld. Ravelin, the former planetary capital, seemed to be a blend of both. Skyscrapers loomed over parks that were large and luscious enough to be forests. Speeder parking areas and sidewalks were lined with sweet smelling and well manicured flowers beds. Despite the beautification, ominous turbolaser emplacements and stormtroopers walking through the streets on patrol reminded him of the fact that it was still a fortress city. They moved through the main districts of the capital before arriving in what looked like celebrity row on Coruscant. Vast mansions and estates gated in behind view-restricting ray shields stood in long ranks like soldiers on parade. Finally, Nalasee stopped in front of a large durasteel gate. Unlike the state-of-the art ray shields, the black durasteel gate itself was a work of art. It rose roughly 20 feet into the air, with intricate designs working their way toward an aurodium seal in the center containing an old Imperial Star Destroyer. Words written in a language unfamiliar to Shae followed the curvature of the seal above the venerable vessel. "He certainly has a taste for making a point." Shae commented upon inspecting it. "Nothing screams 'Hey I liked Palpatine and I think this whole democracy thing is for chumps' like putting a symbol of old Imperial power on your door with 'I'm awesome' written in a language no one understands." Shae said. Nalasee motioned for him to be silent as she rose to her full height and activated the caller on the gate.

"Jedi Basar and Agent Fay'ele'talinshae to see Admiral Amiston." She said to a full-size hologram of an Imperial Officer who had appeared before them.

"The Admiral is occupied with very important business at the moment, but he has ordered me to show you into his study until he is ready to meet with you." The hologram replied as the heavy gate lowered into the ground. After the short walk up the driveway, they were met at the door by a stiff looking butler who allowed them inside.

"I will show you to the study Master Jedi." The butler said in regal basic. As they followed the butler through the home, Shae noted the magnificence of the mansion's lush crimson carpets and numerous unnamable artworks on the wall. The butler lead them to a pair of old fashioned wooden doors which he quietly opened to allow them inside.

Nalasee was in awe of the Admiral's study. Books of every world, culture, language, and type sat on ornate book shelves in the study. Nalasee's love for books had followed her since her youth, and the room was an invariable paradise. In the center of the books, a white haired gentlemen in a maroon smoking jacket sat across from the holo of an older Imperial moff. Between Amiston and the Moff a fully set up Delan board stood. Delan, a more refined and strategic version of the Dejarik, was a game Nalasee herself enjoyed and had played often in her spare time. Amiston didn't even acknowledge their entrance into the room, making Nalasee wonder if perhaps the old admiral was either deaf, or senile. After a few minutes wait, Nalasee decided to force the issue. "Why sacrifice the Lady of the House for a Monk of Melteran?" She asked after the most powerful piece in Amiston's arsenal was jumped by a simple Squire. The Admiral acknowledged her for the first time with a thin smile.

"Regardless of rank, The Lady and The Squire go back in the same box at the end of the game." Amiston said quoting a famous adage of the game.

"True, but wouldn't you rather be the last one to put them in?" Nalasee replied casually.

"Old Moff Tarkin can't see my sacrifice as anything other than a foolish move, and will seek to take advantage of it too early." Amiston replied. The seemingly deaf A.I. of the long dead Grand Moff Tarkin smiled coldly as it moved its own Lady into the gap left by Amiston's. However, Amiston's trap sprung as his Concordian Protector made the leap across the board to remove Tarkin's Lady from the board. The hologram of Tarkin's smile vanished, replacing it was a now sour expression. It tried to formulate a modest defense, but its line was broken by the dashing Monk who swept over the Master of the Board. The Tarkin image stood up and, with a respectful bow, vanished into the small holoprojector at the base of the table. Despite carrying nearly 90 years on his wrinkled frame, Amiston rose from his sitting chair smoothly.

"I am surprised that a Jedi, especially one of non-human origin, has even a basic understanding of the game, let alone some noticeable skill." The Admiral said politely. Instead of taking issue with the backhanded compliment, she took it in stride.

"I was actually far more intrigued by your art collection." Nalasee said, indicating a large prominently framed work depicting an old _Imperial I_ class star destroyer locked in vicious combat with dozens of Yuuzhan Vong craft. " _The Empire Will Always Strike Back_." Nalasee said, naming the painting.

"Very good." Amiston said with an approving nod. "I assume you know its history?" Nalasee paused for a second as if attempting to recall the information.

" I believe it is a rendition of _Right to Rule_ during the Battle of Borosk, shortly after Grand Admiral Pellaeon's famous communique. Is that correct?" Nalasee said with sudden certainty. Amiston's thin smile grew broader.

"Quite right." He said. "However, I assume that you didn't come to examine my art collection or critique my Delan strategy."

"We're hunting Xizor. There have been recent sightings of someone matching his description stirring up trouble in the Galactic Alliance underworld and we would like to know if you had any information." Nalasee said. Amiston paused for a long moment, scooping up an old pipe and lighting it. Finally, he reached a decision and began to speak.

"Vader and Xizor had been at each other's throats for months." Amiston began. "The Emperor set them up at each other and both were more than obliging. Vader was looking for any excuse to eliminate his rival and found one when he learned Xizor tried to kill Luke Skywalker, whom the Emperor wanted alive at that point. Vader got wind Xizor was leaving Coruscant and brought _Executioner_ and two other star destroyers out from where he had hid them behind the planet. Vader gave him a choice to die in space or surrender and die by the Emperor's hand, slowly. Xizor took the former and the _Executioner_ annihilated the skyhook. Nothing outside of a small rebel YT-2000 freighter made it out of the blast. Vader wanted us to be sure of Xizor's death, so we combed the debris for hours. We burned every life pod in the debris. There were rumors Xizor never boarded the Skyhook, but I doubt it." Amiston finished. "As for current information, I've been retired for too many years to have anything of use." He added. He walked around the room to stretch and, as his hands raised above his head, he clicked off a small microphone in the edge of a bookcase. He strode over to Nalasee and Shae. " I might be persuaded to finish off that rat of a Falleen if he is still alive and the circumstances favorable." Amiston put in quietly. "I still have a ship and willing crew if you ever need…" He paused searching for the word. "... A little help." He finished. "Chief of State Fel has informed me he would look the other way should I find the operation of merit." Nalasee nodded as her and Shae stood up to leave. Amiston put a small data chip in her hand. As Nalasee and Shae began to walk out the door Amiston stopped them. "I admired Vader." He said quietly. "I admired him because he saw the darkness in himself and acknowledged it, something few beings have the courage to do. His downfall I see now was that that he embraced it. All beings have a little darkness in them. In fact, I guarantee this search will bring it out in you both. The only question will be, will you embrace it or reject it?" Amiston suddenly straightened as if coming out of a trance and smiled the same thin smile. "The ranting of an old man I suppose." He said almost more to himself than to the Jedi. "Good Luck." He said as they walked out the door


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Shae and Nalasee left the house without another word, and began the long walk back to the spaceport. "That was…" Nalasee said, pausing to find the right word. "... Interesting. Unhelpful, but interesting."

"If he really can provide a ship when we need it, then the trip wasn't a total waste." Shae put in.

"The ship is useless without us knowing where their main base of operations is, and Amiston was our last lead." Nalasee replied.

" _Your_ last lead, not mine. I think I know someone who would be willing to help, for the right price." Shae returned with a sly smile.

"Where is this mystical…" Nalasee's reply trailed off.

"What is it?" Shae said with concern. Suddenly he heard it. The loud roar of a repulsor engine maneuvering down the streets. Shae turned to see an old Imperial Troop Transport flying up the street and reached for the ghost of his lightsaber. Finding nothing but air, Shae's eyes widened in horror as he saw an E-Web repeating blaster's barrel protruding from the slit of the cockpit viewport. "Move!" Shae shouted as he leaped through the air to provide a living shield for Nalasee. The first blast tore into his shoulder and instead of searing pain, he felt it go numb. He realized that capture, and not kill, were their mysterious attackers orders. That was the last thought he had, as the second blast caught him square in the chest and he collapsed into a heap on the ground.

Nalasee stirred from what felt like the deepest sleep of her life. In her foggy consciousness, irritation pricked at the back of her mind toward whoever had roused her from the rare and restful trance. She was suddenly snapped fully awake as the ground seemed to toss her into the air, before slamming her back down hard on a durasteel floor. The peaceful and secure temple was replaced by the minimal durasteel walls that formed the back of the Imperial Troop Transport and stun cuffs concealing the entirety of her hands and forearms. While she couldn't quite remember how she had gotten there, she realized Shae, who was sitting groggily across from her, had probably gotten the worst of it. His left shoulder was swollen, and a nasty lump had formed on the crown of his head. She vaguely recalled a warning, and Shae leaping out to defend her. As Shae came back to consciousness, Nalasee tried to check him for worse injuries through the force. To her growing panic, she realized that not only could she not feel Shae in the force, but a strange buzzing in the back of her mind kept her from finding anything. She forced herself to remain calm and casually asked: "You okay?"

"Peachy." Came the painful reply. Shae took a brief moment to check his surroundings before coming to the same conclusion as Nalasee. "I really hope I'm the only one that can't use the force right now." He said as concern began spreading across his countenance. Nalasee shook her head in a negative. "Got any ideas on how to get us out of this mess?" Shae asked.

"If I did, do you think we'd still be tied up back here?" Nalasee replied. Shae looked down at his boot and suddenly an excited grin came to his face.

"They didn't find the knife!" Shae laughed. "All you have to do is grab it."

"How exactly?" Nalasee said, as she held up her cuffed hands and the small chain connecting them to the wall.

"Can you use your feet?" Shae asked as he slid his right foot across the floor and angled it so the lip of the boot was facing Nalasee.

"You must be joking." Nalasee said with a frown

"We could just sit here, wait, and maybe they'll let us go." Shae returned sarcastically.

"Fine!" Nalasee growled as she kicked off her own boot and used her foot to grasp at the small handle in Shae's. Her three-clawed paw made a poor substitute for a hand, but the blade soon slid free and she slid it across the room to herself. "Now what professor?" She asked as she stared at the blade lying on the ground.

"Grab it with your teeth and pick the lock." Shae said matter-of-factly. Despite her obvious reluctance, she scooped it up in her teeth, blade down.

"Mow mwhat?" She mumbled through clenched teeth.

"Just keep pushing it down until you feel it click then rotate it until the cuffs detach." Shae said, growing impatient. She followed the procedure word-for-word and, on her first try, the cuffs clattered to the floor. She repeated the process, this time with her hands, for Shae, and both stood up to walk toward the small viewport in the back. They saw that the transport had come to a halt inside an old warehouse where four stormtroopers, whom Nalasee had assumed where their abductors, stood gathered around the unmistakable lean form of Taltin as a hologram. They seemed to be in conversation for a few minutes, all of which was indistinguishable due to the helmets they wore, before the hologram nodded toward the truck. "I doubt that he was indicating he wants us to live a long and happy life." Shae said as he backed away from the rear hatch of the vehicle. Suddenly, instead of the doors swinging open, a loud hissing sound filled the cabin.

"Gas!" Nalasee shouted as she quickly drew in a deep breath before beginning to hold it. Shae's hand clamped over his maw as he did the same. Nalasee realized there was only one way out. Reaching out in the force she grabbed at the door. However, the buzzing screamed like a thousand hornets in her ears and she lost her focus. She was losing oxygen quickly, and Shae, untrained in the art air conservation, was losing it quicker. Already he was beginning to sag to the floor. Again she reached out, forcing all the distractions from her mind and pushing outward against the doors. This time they moved, but barely. Shae collapsed to the floor unmoving and Nalasee began to feel panic and doubt creeping into her mind. She reached out again, but this time, instead of focusing on blocking out the distraction, she welcomed it in, the buzzing, Shae's fading heartbeat,and the footsteps outside all became part of the Force. She felt the Force rise from within her like some sort of undersea creature, and with a defiant shove, blew the doors open. The four stormtroopers looked at her in shock as she leaped from the transport. Her foot caught one of the troopers in the facemask and snapped his head back, instantly breaking his neck. She rolled to cover behind a support pillar, blaster fire chasing her like angry predators. With growing frustration, she ducked in and out from behind the pillar, searching for an opening. Suddenly, none of it mattered anymore as the fear and rage she had been suppressing exploded out. Her vision went red as she leapt from behind the pillar and chopped one trooper in the throat. He fell over with a choked gurgling. She turned on the third, only to find Shae's knife firmly lodged in his chest as his lifeblood drained from his heart. Her eyes fell on the fourth one and before she knew what was happening, the trooper was dangling two feet off the ground in her Force choke. "Let him go Basar! He's done." Shae shouted from behind her. However, she couldn't let him go, as if some internal force prevented her from doing so. "Basar!" Shae shouted again. "Nalasee drop him!" The use of her first name snapped her out of it, and the red left her vision. The trooper dropped lifelessly to the floor. She turned around to see the horrified expression on Shae's face at her actions. "I.. I.." She tried to think of an explanation. Instead, she simply turned around and walked away.

Shae stood facing the tall and grim faced Imperial intelligence officer who had arrived after he had called the local law enforcement to tell them what happened.

"We found the real troopers stripped down in an alleyway six blocks from here." Officer Manax said stiffly. "They claimed the transport had been stolen from them by a group of thugs who had jumped them on the street after signaling for help."

"Someone wanted to kill a few Jedi and pin it on the Imperials Officer Manax. This wasn't just a robbery." Shae returned sternly. Manax sniffed.

"Bothans probably." Manax replied with obvious irritation. "Cursed canines are trying to get the GA and Remnant to fight it out and leave them alone." Shae let the comment about canine aliens rest and instead asked." We know they were hired by a Mandalorian named Taltin who is associated with a splinter group of Black Sun. Got any info on him?"

"Frankly, we aren't that concerned about small criminal groups when we have Confederate spies in our midst." Manax returned,his implication clear. Unless this had something to do with a Confederate plot, he wanted no part. That was fine by Shae, who decided that Manax would probably get in the way of their investigation anyways. As Manax's crew of criminal investigators cleaned up the scene, he went looking for Nalasee. He had never thought, let alone seen, the normally restrained Jedi lose control like that, and it made him wonder if he should report her to the council and get a new partner. While logically the smart choice, Shae realized he had no intention of doing anything of the sort, and instead found her sitting behind a pillar scored with blaster fire. "You alright?" Shae ventured.

"I can't explain what happened…" Nalasee began.

"I meant your foot." Shae said, skirting the subject and indicating her swollen and purple bare right foot. "I guess you forgot to put your boot back on before you decided to kick a plastoid helmet." He said with a chuckle as he bent down to look at it. It was undoubtedly broken, but a few days bacta would make for a speedy recovery. "Thanks for the save by the way." Shae said quietly as he tore of a small corner of his cloak, and finding a small wood plank on the floor, made a makeshift splint.

"That's not the first time that's happened to me." Nalasee said quietly as Shae finished the tourniquet. "When I was younger, I used to absolutely lose it whenever I would go sparing. That's why no one wanted me as an apprentice until Master Korr." She said. "I thought I was over it, I really did." She said earnestly. "I hadn't lost it in years. I thought…" Nalasee broke down in a choked sob. Awkwardly Shae sat down beside her and put his arm over her shoulder.

"You thought you were going to die." Shae began, searching for the right words." No matter how old, experienced, or tough you are, that still scares the poodoo you. Any normal person would have just curled up in a ball and cried."

"I'm not that far off am I?" Nalasee quipped miserably.

"It's afterwards, so it doesn't count." Shae replied. "What I mean to say is that I don't respect or like you any less because of what happened. You made a mistake and learned." Nalasee smiled and nodded. "Thanks Shae." She said as he stood up. With a small grunt, Shae helped Nalasee to her foot, and letting her lean on him for support. Together, they finished walking to the spaceport.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

While Nalasee's travels in the galaxy had been limited to only a few worlds, she imagined none could be nearly as terrible as Nar Shaddaa. The "Smugglers Moon", as it was called by the inhabitants, wasn't even the worst planet in the system according to Shae. "That honor would have to go to Nal Hutta." Shae said as they moved along the nearly abandoned catwalk along one of the upper level's main speeder lanes. Nalasee's eyes traversed the dirty buildings with advertisements for every kind of shady service imaginable, as well as the equally unsavory managers of those establishments hawking their products out front.

"Let's not go there next." She said quietly as they rounded a corner and begin the walk up a wide alleyway. Walking along even the upper level streets of Nar Shaddaa at night was considered an invitation to get robbed, unless of course, the pair walking looked like dangerous guns for hire, which Shae and Nalasee did. Shae stopped in front of the sign for a small bar. It looked as if about a dozen different names had at one point or another been on the sign. In fact, it seemed as if the current owner had simply left part of the previous sign on the door to save on cost. _Baruk's Bad Luck_ glowed from the sign, giving light to the darkened alley. Nalasee prepared to go inside before Shae put his hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"Look, the guy we're going to meet with doesn't like Jedi." Shae began.  
"Neither did Amiston, and we didn't have any problem with him." Nalasee replied casually. Shae had been unwilling to name the contact they had come halfway across the galaxy to meet with, which made Nalasee slightly agitated. She wondered if it was because of the confidentiality with his contact, or because her incident on Basiton had made Shae doubt her abilities. Regardless, she put it behind her.

"This guy _really_ doesn't like Jedi, and I really don't want to piss him off." Shae finally replied, the serious tone unmistakable."Just let me do the talking. alright?" Shae said firmly before he entered.

"Yes sir." She said sarcastically under her breath as she followed.

The bar had definitely been one of Nar Shaddaa's many warehouses, judging from its spacious interior. Roughly two dozen circular tables were scattered around a large oval bar area, although only half of them were taken. The population mostly consisted of the working classes of the Hutts: Weequay, Trandoshans, Klatooinians, and numerous other alien species as well as a few humans. Numerous scantily clad females of equally diverse origin moved about serving drinks and food. Shae noticed Nalasee's disgust and said with a shrug; "Welcome to the Underworld." He allowed his eyes to survey each figure, assessing whether or not each one was a threat before searching for a particular person. His eyes stopped on a battered green Mandalorian helmet in the back corner at a booth. Shae moved toward him and, with Nalasee in tow, sat down. No stranger would have ever been stupid enough to sit down uninvited at any table occupied by a Mando, but Shae and the bounty hunter had met once a few years ago and, to Shae's relief, he seemed to remember him. Some said it was the armor, others the trophies on his shoulder, but Shae had decided that the thing that intimidated others was Boba Fett's parsec long stare. It was the unmoving, unflinching, and unreadable glare that would break some beings without a word being issued that Shae was now faced with. "Fett." Came Shae's even greeting. Despite her expressionless face, a slight tinge of unease pricked in Nalasee's force presence beside him. He could imagine why. Even to the mighty Jedi Order, Fett was legendarily known as one of the few non-Force users to kill Jedi. "Got a second to talk business?" Shae said to break the silence. Fett's snort was audible.

"I doubt you can afford me." Fett said with a voice as unemotional as carbonite.

"You'd be surprised." Nalasee said from beside Shae. Shae's brief surprise was quickly pushed down and replaced with a question. "I know that nothing goes down in the underworld without you knowing about it Fett, so I want to buy information on _The League_."

"Do I look like an information broker to you?" Fett asked sarcastically.

"Everyone else is too scared to sell them out. I figured that either you aren't afraid, or don't care." Shae returned cooly. "I can pay you 75,000 credits right now for any information you have."

"Can't help you." Fett said as he got up to leave. Suddenly, Nalasee jerked him backwards with the Force, but Fett used the momentum to spin himself around and, with almost impossible speed, leapt forward. Before Nalasee could move, her wrist was locked in Fett's left hand, and his EE-3 blaster rifle was aimed at her temple.

"That was very bold, and very, very stupid." Fett said coldly. Despite being well past 70, the bounty hunter wasn't even out of breath.

"You're not any concern of the Jedi right now Fett, but I'll guarantee you will be if you kill one of their knights." Shae said cooly. Fett hesitated for a second before letting go and stepping back.

"Pity. I was looking forward to adding another saber to my collection." Fett said, as he surveyed them with renewed interest.

"Fett, the Jedi need this information badly and are willing to trade almost anything to get it." Shae said as the bounty hunter began to leave. This time, the bounty hunter stopped of his own accord. Fett returned to the table and sat down again.

"I want the bartender." Fett said, indicating the youngish, skinny, brown-haired bartender. At first, Shae thought that maybe the bounty hunter was joking. When Fett refused to give an explanation Shae realized he wasn't.

"Isn't roughing up bartenders a little below you Fett?" Shae asked slowly.

"The Hutts have a 300,000 credit bounty on him, and I always collect." Fett returned. Shae thought about making a comment about the hunters age and needing more help, but he buried it and instead asked;

"Why not do it yourself?".

"Almost every customer in here is a paid bodyguard." Fett started out. " As soon as a fight breaks out, a blast door drops down over the bar area. He never leaves the bar either. I'm sure I would come up with a plan eventually, but your arrival is convenient enough." Fett explained.

"Why would the Hutts put a 300,000 credit bounty on a bartender; did he serve them bad Corellian Ale?" Nalasee asked, still rubbing her sore wrist.

" Trying to sell slaves on Nar Shaddaa without the Hutts permission and "tax" was a poor choice." Fett said. Shae could feel Nalasee's discomfort in the Force over the word "slave".

"Fine. We'll do it." Shae said as he stood up and walked toward the bar. Nalasee got up, and as she followed him asked, "What exactly is the plan?"

"I was hoping you would have an idea." Shae murmured as he closed with the bar.

"I got one." She said as she took the lead. Suddenly, she pulled her lightsaber hilt and slammed it onto the bar. "By the authority of the Galactic Alliance and Jedi Order you're under arrest!" She shouted at the confused looking bartender. Instantly, the blast door slammed shut and the sound of charging of blasters filled the room.

"This was you plan!?" Shae yelled at Nalasee as his green lightsaber came to life.

"You have a better one?" She returned, as her own violet blade snapped to life. Shae wondered if no plan was better than her plan as the waitresses and a few unarmed patrons filed out of the bar. Fett, like a curious bystander, sat in the corner. Blaster fire erupted all around Shae and Nalasee as they blocked and dodged the bolts with incredible speed. Shae dived behind an overturned table as a few dozen blaster bolts hammered into it. He slid his own blaster pistol out in his left hand and leapt from behind cover. Nalasee leapt on top of the bunker that had served as the bar, before leaping atop one of the chandeliers. A quick swing of her lightsaber freed it from the roof, and it plummeted down onto a pair of guards. Shae used the distraction to move quickly across the room to what looked like the kitchen. He snapped off a pair of shots on his way, dropping a Weequay and human guard in their tracks. He slid down behind the door, only to find a hefty Sullustan positioning a Flechette launcher. Suddenly, Nalasee's violet lightsaber whizzed by his head, as its flight carried it into the Sullustan's chest.

"Having fun?" She asked as she called her weapon back to her hand and joined him behind his meager cover.

"I can barely contain myself." Shae said sarcastically as he stood up. A thermal detonator rolled into the room, and Shae barely had time to use the Force to hurl it back outside. A loud bang, accompanied by the screams of the dying, came from outside. They used the temporary distraction to move outside the kitchen, only to find a trio of surprised humans waiting for them. Shae cut down one of them with a quick strike and shot another while Nalasee stabbed the third. As the shock wore off, they were caught in a firestorm of blaster fire, but the number of their enemies was now reduced to eight and their firepower was seriously reduced. They charged forward and systematically cut down the remaining guards until only five, then two, then none remained.

"That was easy." Nalasee said as she lowered her saber.

"I still feel another presence somewhere though." Shae said his eyes beginning to search before he felt himself lifted off the ground by a painful impact. He hit the ground almost 10 yards away before coming to a tumbling stop. His eyes fell on his attacker, a roughly 10 foot tall Flog wielding an E-web blaster in one hand, and a durasteel pipe in the other. Nalasee was already moving, leaping over the back swipe of the pipe and flipping behind the monstrous brown biped. The Flog whipped around and leveled the E-web at her. Despite his body's screams of protest, Shae leapt up and charged forward, lightsaber in hand.

"Go ahead and take your time!" Nalasee shouted breathlessly as she doggedly dodged and batted down the blaster bolts. One caught the blade just right and sent it spinning from Nalasee's grip, but before the Flog could finish her off Shae lept through the air and severed the arm wielding the E-web. The Flog roared in agony and rage as he caught Shae with a powerful kick that knocked the precious regained air from his lungs. As Shae tumbled to the ground, losing hold of his saber, the Flog's foot came down on his back, pinning him to the ground. Nalasee charged forward, unarmed but undeterred. She landed two harsh kicks and a powerful punch that would have killed a normal size humanoid, but only tickled the Flog. The pipe swung and sent Nalasee sprawling. Shae realized he was about to be crushed beneath the Flog's enormous weight and hoped that Nalasee would get away. But Before the life could be crushed out of him, he heard the roar of a jetpack. A loud _Phring_ sounded as a pair of darts shot by his head and into the Flogs leg. The pressure on his chest lessened, then stopped, as the Flog toppled over with Boba Fett standing calmly behind it.

"That must have been quite the drug." Shae said as he tried to catch his breath.

"There's not much rancor euthanizer won't put down." Fett said as he turned and walked back toward the bar. Shae recovered his and Nalasee's sabers before walking over to help his partner up.

"You come up with the plan next time." Nalasee said painfully as she rose and joined Fett at the bar. Shae snapped his lightsaber on and cut a large hole in the blast door. Fett reached inside it and hauled the bartender out by his long hair.

"I'll pay you triple whatever the Hutts are Fett!" The shaking bartender shrieked as Fett deposited him on the ground. Fett's only response was the butt of his EE-3 colliding hard with the slaver's nose. The bartender fell silent as Fett placed him in a pair of stun cuffs and hauled him to his feet.

"Ilum." Fett said as he pushed the bartender out the door.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Nalasee and Shae watched the pinpricks of light representing distant star systems whizz past the viewport of the _Claw_ , a task with which they had been too consumed with to allow for a conversation since Nar Shaddaa. It wasn't for lack of Shae trying however. He had attempted on several occasions to jumpstart any kind of conversation with his partner, but never was able to manage more than a polite response or two before silence resumed its seemingly restless patrol. "What's the matter?" Shae asked casually from behind the control yoke. "If it's about the info, don't worry. Fett may be a freelancer, but his word is his bond." The news didn't comfort Nalasee, in fact it further discouraged her. While she would never admit it, she had been hoping that the lead would prove to be false, and that they would simply pass by the forsaken ice planet. Her hopes died when they emerged from hyperspace and found Ilum's frozen continents before them. "There's definately technology down there." Shae said slowly as he stared down at the ship's scanners. "Looks like a small base on the Northern Hemisphere about a hundred clicks south of the pole; doesn't seem like there's any intelligent life though." Shae observed as he began initiating the ship's landing cycle. Nalasee looked away from the planet as they made their descent. They touched down on a small plateau near the mouth of a large Ice Cave beside an old YT-666 light freighter. Despite their natural heavy fur, both Nalasee and Shae elected to don the winter survival gear before exiting the assault shuttle. They circled around to the YT first, lightsabers in hand, but not activated. The landing ramp for the freighter was fully extended, but covered in snow almost halfway up. Fighting through the blistering snow flakes, they ascended into the craft. Its internal temperature matched that of the blizzard outside, and no one seemed to be aboard. "No one's been here for a while." Shae said suspiciously. "If they were smuggling drugs or something else off world, why would they abandon a perfectly good freighter?" Shae pivoted to face Nalasee. "Care to elaborate?" He asked. Nalasee turned and walked back toward the exit.

"No." Was her only response. With a shrug and a sigh Shae followed her out. He wasn't able to catch up to her until she stopped by the enormous half-closed durasteel blast door guarding the entrance of the cave.

"Nice of them to leave the door open." Shae said as he flicked his lightsaber on. Nalasee did the same as She led the way inside. Despite the outward appearance, the cave was relatively small. No more than 20 feet tall and probably five times as long, most of the arched cavern was occupied by storage shelves stuffed to overflowing with boxes. The remaining space was given to a small living area and a communication hub. Nalasee moved toward the communication hub first, while Shae moved to inspect the living quarters. "No one's here, and it seems like they were in a hurry when they left." Shae shouted from the next room, as Nalasee snapped the computer to life. To her dismay, the hub had been wiped clean before _The League_ had left. She left the small station to meet Shae near the storage boxes. Shining the light from his saber down into the boxes, Shae picked up a small machine Nalasee didn't recognize. "Mining equipment." Shae said, as he placed the item back in its box. "There aren't any mineable resources on Ilum though right?" Shae said as he moved down the line of boxes and finding nothing but more equipment. Nalasee could feel it in the Force. She had known they had been there since the start, but had hoped the strong Force aura of the world had only been playing tricks on her mind. Instead, she pulled the long green Kyber Crystal from the box it, and a dozen similar crystals, had been stored in.

"These are what they were looking for." She said as she tossed it to Shae. He caught it deftly and examined it closely.

"Lightsaber crystals?" He said confused. "Were they trying to build lightsabers?" Nalasee considered the possibility then dismissed it.

"You can make synthetic crystals far cheaper and get the same thing." She said as Shae placed the crystal back in the box. Her eyes fell on the mouth of an off-branching passage at the back of the cave. The feeling was undeniable know. Faint, but there,the cold hand of the Dark Side reached out from the mouth of the cave.

"We have to check that mine out." Shae said as he moved toward the entrance.

"Wait!" Nalasee cried out panicked. Shae looked at her with surprise.

"Look, I don't know what's been bothering you, but whatever it is we can face it together." Shae said earnestly.

"You don't understand Shae." Nalasee said with fear building in her voice. "This planet was used by the First Jedi Order as the place where the young apprentices were forced to pass their trials. They would enter inside the caves to find their lightsaber crystals and were faced with visions from the Dark Side." She explained.

"What kind of visions?" Shae asked.

"Nightmares." Nalasee replied with a shudder. "They show you your darkest fears." Shae paused to consider the challenge they would be facing.

"We have to know if there's any kind of lead back there." Shae said resolutely. "Look, I understand if you don't feel up to going, I don't blame you. "

"No, we do it together, or not at all." Nalasee replied, still fearfully, but with the same resoluteness that filled Shae's voice. They entered the cave as one, moving carefully with lightsabers lighting the way before them. They followed the cave through an area that had obviously been strip mined of crystals, until they arrived at a split in the road.

"We can go through one, then double back." Shae suggested as they came to a stop.

"No, let's just get it over with." Nalasee said firmly. "I'll take the one on the right. Don't worry, I'll be fine" Shae held her gaze for a moment until he nodded and offered a:

"Good luck." before moving down the passage. Nalasee turned, and with determination, marched down the cave. As she walked deeper and deeper inside, the cave seemed to grow even more dark, until even the light of her lightsaber only lit the area directly below her feet. Suddenly, the ground fell away beneath her and, with a cry, she tumbled down. After what felt like a moment of unmoving silence, she rose to her feet.

"Poodoo!" She growled as she searched the ground for her lightsaber. However, the cave floor was gone, replaced with the immaculately carved floors of the Jedi temple. In her head she cursed her clumsiness. "I must have fallen harder than I thought." She told herself as she exited the small medbay she had been occupying. "Great." She groaned to herself as she walked down the dimly lit hallways. "Shae must have come looking for me when I didn't show up and hauled me back to the temple. Now I'm going to have to hear all about how he saved my life." Her thoughts were interrupted by a blood curdling scream. Nalasee raced around the corner at top speed, only to find the bodies of dozens of Jedi of all ages. Shock filled her as she recognized one of the bodies. "Master Korr!" She shouted, running to her former master's side. A large black hole marked the middle of his chest where a lightsaber had been driven through it. She cradled his head in her arms as his eyes suddenly snapped open.

"Nalasee!" He said with confused surprise.  
"Master Korr what happened?" She asked as tears began to stain her cheeks.

"You failed us Nalasee." He gasped out in pained breaths. "You failed us. You failed…" His words, and him, died, never to be heard.

"No Master Korr I couldn't!" She cried out as she let his body slip from her fingers. "I was away, I couldn't have done anything." She pleaded, more with the universe than with the lifeless form of Jaden Korr. She got up, moving down the halls with a new emotion, rage. She was going to find whoever had done this and stop him. She sped up, moving impossibly fast down the long hallways. A dead Jedi seemed to be everywhere her eyes fell. Many longtime friends she would never see again. She pushed any feeling of mourning away. "I'll mourn for the dead when their killer joins them." She thought angrily as she picked up speed. She rounded the final corner to see the recreation of the Room of a Thousand Fountains looming ahead of her. Beside the now dry fountain, a figure in a black cloak wielding a crimson lightsaber dueled with a familiar face. Shae lunged for the figure with masterful strikes, driving the murderer back. Inside Nalasee felt a brief thrill. "Together me and Shae can stop this, we can set everything right!" She told herself as she closed the distance to the fight. Halfway there, the momentum changed. Shae mistimed a strike, opening himself to a vicious counterattack. The Sith drove Shae back with powerful blow after powerful blow, until he was back up against a nearby wall. Nalasee's speed suddenly vanished, instead, it felt as if her feet had been covered in permacrete. Another blow sent Shae's lightsaber from his grasp, the next went through his heart. Nalasee locked eyes with her dying friend.

"You failed." He breathed as his eyes closed forever.

"No!" Nalasee roared as she snapped her lightsaber to life and lunged at Shae's killer. The two locked blades in an explosion of sparks. With an animal cry of rage Nalasee charged her opponent. Moving with incredible speed and fury, Nalasee struck at her enemy with a series of side to side strikes. However, it seemed as if the Sith knew her every move before she made it. He countered every strike with an impenetrable defense. Nalasee could feel her arms growing weak as her offense began to sputter. In a last ditch attempt she lunged for the Sith's cloaked face with her sharp claws. The cowl came free to reveal an all too familiar face. It was the same face she had seen in the mirror for the past 22 years.

"Don't you see!" the yellow eyed image of herself shouted at her as she batted Nalasee's lightsaber from her hands. "I am you. You can never beat me!" Suddenly, Nalasee's view shifted, until all she saw was the crimson lightsaber in her hand, and the bodies of the Jedi she had killed. "No. No. NO!" She screamed as the vision faded, leaving her in the cave on Ilum alone. She sat on the floor, shaking. After a few minutes of silence, she got up and walked through the rest of the cave without incident. She almost bumped into an equally stone faced Shae as the two tunnels rejoined. The didn't need to say they hadn't found anything, and simply left the cave. A few minutes later, they emerged from a small opening on the outside of the cave in a roaring blizzard. Shae signaled for the _Claw_ to come and pick them up. They boarded the craft and departed without another word. A few hours later, Nalasee sat in her room alone,feeling numb and hollow inside. The comlink she held in her hand showed she had called Master Korr a dozen times during the start of their journey back to Coruscant. Right then, she felt as if she was the only one in the entire galaxy. Was it a vision of the future, or a possible one? She couldn't be sure. A small part of her simply wanted to jump out the airlock and rid the galaxy of any chance of another Jacen Solo. A quiet knock on her door snapped her from her stupor. She rose from the bed and wiped her eyes of tears she hadn't know had been there as she walked toward the door.

"Nalasee, its Shae. Can we talk?" Came the unsure request from the other side of the door. Nalasee was in no mood to talk, but she decided that Shae worrying about her wouldn't be fair, so she clicked the door open. "Can I come in?" Shae asked as he stood patiently outside the door. She had to fight to keep the shock from showing on her face. Shae looked as if he had aged a thousand years since she had seen him last.

"Yeah sure." She said, stepping out of the way to allow him inside. She sat down on the bed while Shae leaned against a bulkhead opposite her.

"Were those visions of the future?" Shae asked, no emotion evident in his voice. Nalasee felt like she had been kicked in the gut. While she had training in Force visions, Shae was completely in the dark. The terrifying experience of her own visions must have been nightmarish one for Shae.

"What did you see?" She asked gently. Shae moved over to the small fresher and rinsed a small cloth in water. He wiped it across his face removing the grey dye that had covered an area from above his temple down to his neck, revealing an intricate red line of fur. The mark was unmistakable as that of the Sith. A thought lanced across her mind that Shae was perhaps Jacen Solo's hidden apprentice, back to carry out his master's commands. She crushed the thought quickly. Shae had been her friend, and had more than enough opportunities to kill her before now. So instead, she sat and listened.

"The S'vithilins on my world are primitive and tribal." Shae began. "They have no experience with the Force or the Jedi. So when I was born not only as the runt of my litter, but also with magical gifts and this strange mark, I was seen as a bad omen. The village shunned me until I turned 10 years old. My father sent me away into the wilderness for my right of passage, intending to kill me and end his, and the village's disgrace. When he showed up with my eldest brother, I knew what was going to happen. I fought and, in the course of events, my brother ended up on the bottom of a gorge dead. My father saw that as enough of an excuse for me to be sent away from the tribe forever. I left in disgrace and ended up finding my way to Nal Hutta on a spice freighter leaving one of S'Vithil IV's spaceports. I got work as an assassin for Turga the Hutt for a few years, but never forgave my tribe, or my father. A few years ago, I was manipulated into going back to seek my revenge by a Dark Side acolyte. I was ready to burn the whole village to the ground before the spirit of a dead Jedi stopped me." Shae looked up at Nalasee with Shame. "I was within inches of killing an innocent, albeit tyrannical, being Nalasee. After the incident, I didn't touch the Force for awhile. It took me a few years before I finally I realized was tired of wandering around the universe fighting other people's battles and decided to join the Jedi." Shae finished. "Except, that's not what I saw. I saw a future where the Jedi never showed up and I ended up slaughtering the whole village." He said as he broke down sobbing. "So, am I fated to fall to the dark?" Nalasee sat for a moment unsure of what to say. Then, the words of Master Korr floated to the top of her mind. "There's darkness in everyone." She began slowly, gaining confidence and realizing the answer to her own question at the same time. " The people that fall to it are the one's that accept that it is in them and are unwilling to stand up and fight it." She looked Shae in the eye. "Shae, you have already conquered the darkness inside of you. You have to fight it every day sure, but it can no longer control your fate." Shae sat digesting her words, before smiling a little.

"I guess I'm not the only one capable of giving good advice." He said laughing. Nalasee joined in and they laughed at nothing at all for a long while. Suddenly, a beeping signalling a transmission caught their attention. Nalasee lifted up her comlink and activated it. A miniature of Jaden Korr appeared before her.

"I saw your call and wanted to make sure everything was alright Jedi Basar." The stern voice of Korr showing a hint of concern.

"I'm fine Master Korr, but Ilum isn't." She said.

"Ilum!" Korr almost shouted in surprise. Nalasee explained the entire story of what had occurred on Ilum, minus her and Shae's Force visions.

"Good work on discovering the operation on Ilum." Korr said appreciatively. "I'll have some Jedi Knights come and safeguard the area until we can bring in a more permanent solution. As for you two, we need you to head towards Talmun; we have a lead."


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

The thick level of red clay and sand that made up the barren surface of Talmun danced in a cloud as the _Claw_ roared over the wide open desert. Inside the hold of the assault shuttle, Shae and Nalasee gathered around a small holoprojector emitting a miniature of Master Korr. "This listening post has been mining data from the Imperial Palace for years." Master Korr was saying. "Our intelligence indicates that the structure was finished around the same time as the palace on Coruscant."

"How do we get inside?" Shae asked as he adjusted the blaster pistol on his belt.

"The facility is entirely underground. There's an open entrance at the end of a nearby Canyon, but it's inaccessible due to the high winds in the gorge. The shuttle would be smashed to pieces on the walls. " Korr answered. The hologram shifted from his image to that of the bases schematics. A long line stretching from the South side of the base was lit by a red highlight. "This tunnel acts as a waste disposal area for the base. " The disembodied voice of Korr explained.

"A sewer?" Nalasee said with an audible frown.

"It's a several mile walk along the accessways until you'll arrive at a waste lift that leads directly into the facility." Korr said ignoring Nalasee's disdain.

"What can we expect to find Master Korr?" Shae asked as the hologram returned to Korr's fuzzy image.

"The base is sealed off from outside personal and is most likely run entirely by droids. Once inside the facility find the central computer room and dump all the data onto a holodisk we can analyze back at the temple. After you get the information, destroy the base." Master Korr said as he finished his briefing and looked from Nalasee to Shae. "May the Force be with you. Korr out." The Holoprojector winked off and the hold was temporarily thrown into darkness until the lights came back on. Shae finished attaching the small armor plates to the armorweave suit he had elected to don.

"Ready princess?" Nalasee asked sarcastically as the ship shook slightly beneath their feet when the _Claw_ docked with an above ground access hatch for the sewer.

"Always." Shae replied as he passed her and walked to the docking ring in the ship's floor. He popped it open to find the rusted and sand smoothed access panel. The coded entry panel in the center was no longer functional, so a quick lightsaber swing dropped it from its hinges and into the darkness below.

"What an incredible smell you've discovered!" Nalasee said as her stomach turned at the sickening aroma rising from below. While human waste was nonexistent, the noxious chemicals that wafted down the green stone pipeway was more than its equal. Thankfully, small yellow glowsticks gave enough light for them to not use their lightsabers to see. They made the roughly ten foot drop from the roof of the sewer to the dirty catwalk below before beginning a cautious march to the lift. As they were walking, Nalasee heard something beside her in the water and whipped around, only to see nothing but small eddies in the underground stream."Feel or see something?" Shae asked.

"No." She returned truthfully. "Must be seeing ghosts. There's just something off about this place."

"Your senses are better than mine, and I'd hate to be caught in an ambush." No sooner were the words out of his mouth when a blaster bolt lanced out from the dark. It caught Shae's shoulder and turned him halfway around. Nalasee moved with to catch the next one with her saber and deflected the third back at their attacker. A loud explosion followed by a splash followed as the bolt returned to its sender. "Probe droids!" Shae said through gasping breaths." I really hope they're just in patrol mode and no one's controlling them.

"Are you ok?!" Nalasee said in shock at Shae's apparent invulnerability. Shae chuckled as he returned;  
"Those plates are worth their weight ." Nalasee let out a sigh of relief as she straightened and began to move on. With the wind knocked out of him but no worse for wear, Shae followed close behind.

"Let's keep our eyes open for more droids anyways armor boy." Nalasee said as her head swiveled up and down the passage. However, as they moved down the passage they found no more of the robotic sentinels on their patrols, a fact that both Nalasee and Shae found perturbing. After an hour walk in the almost complete darkness, they arrived at a large archway that opened into an enormous dome where a large lift sat seemingly unguarded. A sense of perceptible danger pricked at the back of Nalasee's mind and she whirled around to the murky blue water. Once again, she found only swirling eddies in the water. One time she could write off as nerves, the second meant trouble. "Something's in the water Shae." Nalasee said stopping him before he could enter the dome.

"Something?" Shae asked with confusion evident in his expression.

"I don't know what and I don't want to." Nalasee returned firmly. "Just don't fall in." Shae nodded seriously and they entered the room, lightsabers ignited. Seemingly materializing from thin air, a swarm of Viper probe droids emerged from their hiding spots to surround Shae and Nalasee.

"Why can't it ever just be easy." Shae said through gritted teeth as he and Nalasee pirouetted through the air towards the droids. Nalasee's first strike bisected a droid clean through its photoreceptor; its halves, aided by the force, became crippling missiles for two more. Shae used the heads of the droids as platforms for further advance, landing on their heads and plunging his lightsaber into their droid brains before moving to the next. He came to a rolling stop on the catwalk opposite Nalasee, who had cut down four more droids with deadly and accurate strikes. Shae used the momentum of his roll to get a running start, building speed and using the curved surface of the wall to propel himself in the air toward another droid. His blow shattered the droid into pieces, but left him open to a strike from behind as another Viper droid leveled its chin mounted blaster at him. Nalasee saw the droid from the corner of her eye and flicked her saber at the droid. Guiding it through the force, it plunged into the side of the droid and sent it to a fiery demise. She called the saber back to her, but another probe droid had identified her as a target and swung in the way of the blade. Unable to change its course, the still active saber plunged into the unlucky droid. The droid exploded in a fireball launching her saber on an unknown course. She attempted to search for it, but was interrupted by the whine of blaster fire at her feet as another droid targeted her. Unable to block the bolts, Nalasee leapt backwards and around the bolts furiously. Shae finished off the last of the droids on the other side of the room and suddenly realizing her plight, charged forward to help her. However, another droid interceded for his companion and realizing it would have no chance to destroy the Jedi, self-destructed. Shae barely had time to cover his face before the blast threw him across the room and into the water. Nalasee grabbed the droid she was facing in the force and smashed it against the wall. With the droids gone, she casually leapt over to the spot Shae had fallen in, intending for a clever quip, when the memory of the danger sense snapped into her mind.

"Shae get out of there!" She shouted at him as he bobbed to the surface. Before he could swim for shore, an enormous green tentacle snaked from out of the water and wrapped itself around Shae's neck. With a choked cry, Shae disappeared beneath the water. Nalasee froze for a split second in shock, then her fear turned into a rush of adrenaline as she took a deep breath and dived beneath the water. She searched for Shae first with her eyes, but the murkiness of the water combined with the sewer's darkness made it impossible to see much more than a few feet from her face. She stretched out with the Force, expanding her sense slowly at first, but then allowing it to cover the entire room. She felt Shae's presence beneath her and dove for it. Suddenly, in the darkness, she saw them. Whatever the creature was, it had wrapped its slimy green tentacles around Shae's neck and limbs. He wasn't moving by the time she came even with him. Her hand fell down to the spot her lightsaber normally resided only to realize with horror it wasn't there. She searched for another weapon and found Shae's holster with blaster still inside strapped to his hip. She lashed out at it and curled her fingertips around the grip. Before she could sight the weapon, a tentacle lashed out and grabbed her wrist. The blaster swung wildly, discharging a random round into the creature's roughly ovoid torso. It let out a nerve wracking shriek and its grip tightened on Nalasee's wrist so quickly she thought it would break. Instead, it yanked down hard, drawing it towards an enormous gaping maw with dagger like teeth as the blaster dropped from her grip. Without thinking, she placed her boots at either end of the mouth and kicked back against it. The maneuver bought her no more than a moment. Her mind raced as she tried to think of some sort of option to escape. "The knife!" She thought as she grabbed onto Shae's heel as the water monster attempted to drag her back into his maw. Her hand found the blade's hilt and latched onto it, but the small hide thong that kept it in its secret sheath also kept her from retrieving it. She felt her grip failing as the monster put all of its effort into dragging Nalasee back into its mouth. For a moment, she thought about allowing herself to simply let go of all the struggle and succumb. "I can't lose Shae forever." Rose into her mind. The thought hadn't come of her own accord, but she suddenly that realized nothing had ever been more true to her. With a superhuman effort, she locked onto the hilt of the knife with a deathgrip. The pulling snapped the small hide thong and the blade came free. She snapped it back across the tentacle around her wrist, severing it and filling the nearby water with a dark green blood. She made a dash for Shae, severing the cord around his throat before lunging at the one wrapped around his waist. Suddenly, the tentacle released Shae and snapped toward her. It caught her directly in the solar plexus and almost forced her to relinquish her diminishing air supply. However, she was able to maintain her breath and slash the tentacle off. Before she could escape the monster's clutches, she felt another pair of Tentacles wrap around her ankles. Suddenly she was being pulled toward the monster's mouth, and this time she would have no way of escape. Unless… she would only have one shot at her gambit she realized. If she missed, she would undoubtedly be dead. She waited until the maw was in sight, in fact she waited until she was halfway inside it before flicking the knife in a spinning arc down the creature's throat. It's ear splitting shriek was cut short this time, and the creature began to sink. "With me still attached!" She realized in horror. Frantically she slashed at one tentacle, then the other with her teeth and claws, until she kicked free and paddled away. Her mind, drained of oxygen, had become narrow and singly focused . "Have to find Shae." Was her only thought as she searched for him in the Force again. This time she found him alone, but his Force aura was shrinking fast. She desperately swam until she finally saw him, limp and waywardly drifting. She wrapped one arm around his waist before orientating herself toward the surface. She paddled furiously for the surface, her lungs screamed in agony, but she would not give them reprieve. The surface seemed unreachably far away and just when she thought she would drown, she broke the surface, gasping for breath. She only allowed herself one or two breaths before dragging Shae aboard the lift. He wasn't moving and to her alarm, wasn't breathing. She began administering CPR all the while saying quietly to herself; "Don't die on me Shae." After what felt like an eternity, he coughed up water and began to breathe in deep raspy breaths. He groaned as his eyes slowly rolled open.

"I think you owe me a new knife." He said staring down at his empty sheath. She slapped him slightly hard across the jaw. "What was that for?" He said rubbing his jaw

"You said that it was a sign of affection on your planet." She returned with a sly smile. Shae looked at her a little confused at first, but then realized the meaning.

"I don't think it would be as meaningful if I hit you back." He returned with a weak smile. They both stared at each other, unsure of where to go from that point forward. The had just stared death in the faith, and now both had something to lose. "We should, uh, probably get going." Shae said somewhat uncomfortably.

"Right." Nalasee said equally awkwardly as she too rose from her sitting position and activated the lift.


	12. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

The lift came even with the floor and the two Jedi ducked off to either side of the dirty arched passageway leading into the facility. Shae slowly pushed his head around the corner to check for guards. Outside of a pair of security cameras swiveling in overlapping arcs down the long dark hallway, nothing guarded the entrance.

"Just cameras." Shae whispered as he turned around only to see Nalasee gone. He swung his head back around to the hallway to see Nalasee racing along one wall and flipping gracefully atop the first camera's mounting before leaping across the rest of the hallway. Breathing a frustrated sigh, Shae backed up, then followed in Nalasee's footsteps. While not nearly as graceful as his companion, Shae managed to clear the camera before faceplanting onto the other side and rolling awkwardly behind the far corner.

"Graceful as usual." Nalasee said smirking smugly before offering him a hand up. Shae took it and Nalasee hauled him up to his feet. They moved down two more hallways. Outside of the cameras, they found no resistance, which made Shae nervous. No trouble often meant plenty. They rounded a third hallway before arriving in an opulent throne room. Carved from the rock by simple machines, the roughly rectangular room centered around an ascending cone of stairs. Atop the pillar, a large computer terminal stood with a holoprojector embedded in its peak. Searching the room for any signs of a trap and finding none, they climbed the steps up to the computer. Nalasee flipped the computer slicer open and plugged it into a port on the side of the computer hub. The red light on the slicer clicked green to indicate the slice had begun. Suddenly, the holoprojector flared to life as a life size image of an attractive blonde woman appeared.

"You have accessed restricted files, lethal force will be applied if your intrusions do not cease." Came the harmonic but cold voice of the computer.

"Can you shut her up!" Nalasee yelled at Shae as she whirled around and snapped her lightsaber to life. Shae opened up a small computer access screen and began to search through the unlocked files for anything important. Dozens of combat droids emerged from where they had been stowed in the walls and blaster fire erupted in all directions as the droids fired at Nalasee and Shae. One bolt struck inches from Shae's head showering him in sparks and filling the air with the smell of fried wiring and ozone. He ignored the dozens of individually tagged files and instead searched for one thing: the location they were being sent to. Finally, he found the locations of the receivers and opened the files. Without looking, he dumped them into the slicer's memory.

"You have removed restricted files. Self-destruct sequence initiated." The blonde said as the blaster fire rained around them.

"Let's go!" Shae shouted over the roar of blaster fire

"Where?" Nalasee asked as she continued deflecting bolts. Shae snapped his lightsaber on as he searched the room for any means of escape. It was then he noticed a large viewport overlooking the canyon on the far side.

"Through the window." Shae said indicating the the viewport with his saber before blocking back a pair of bolts.

"There's nothing below it!" Nalasee returned as she moved closer to join him.

"3 minutes to self-destruct." The blonde said. With an angry growl Nalasee cut the projector's speaker in half before sprinting for the window.

"Where are you going?" Shae yelled as he followed her.

"I trust you!" Nalasee returned as she leapt toward the window. The glass shattered as she emerged on the other side only to find nothing below her. Rotating mid-air she caught the edge of the shattered sill with one hand and held on tight. Shae flew over her head and began to fall before he caught her dangling ankle. " What's the plan now professor?!" Nalasee demanded as she tried to be heard over the roaring winds of the canyon. Shae looked over toward the canyon wall ahead and found a small catwalk no thicker than a human foot across.

"Toss me there!" Shae said indicating the small line. Nalasee nodded and swung her muscular legs backwards before kicking her feet forwards again., flicking Shae across the gap. Shae caught the edge by nothing more than his claw tips, but it was enough. Painstakingly, he hauled himself onto the ledge and pressed his back against the wall. Bracing her feet against the wall, Nalasee vaulted toward the ledge. Shae deftly caught her hand and pulled her up onto the ledge with him. Maneuvering cautiously, Shae shifted his position until he could walk, and began moving along the small craig. The savage winds tore at their cloaks, but they were able to hang on for dear life to the wall as they moved along. After a short distance, the line faded back into the canyon.

"Where now?" Nalasee hollered over the roaring winds. Searching again, Shae found a series of handholds leading up the gorge.

"Up!" Shae managed as he scrambled for the first handhold. His careful movement allowed him to move upward without incident. Nalasee followed close behind until they arrived at the top. They had now arrived at a corner in the canyon, farther away from the outpost, but still not a safe distance away from the blast site. Frantically, Shae looked for another way up. He found it in the form of several outcroppings which ran around the corner. Shae cleared the gap to the first outcropping easily. Nalasee caught on to the strategy and followed close behind. Imitating a trapeze artist, Shae swung from outcropping to outcropping before hanging from the last a loud grunt, he was able to clamber atop of the outcropping and saw their exit. Across the canyon, a craig jutted out from the wall with a small trail leading up to the top of the canyon wall and out of the gorge. Crouching to reduce the force of the wind against her Nalasee pointed it out.

"There's our exit!" She shouted, her voice barely audible above the screeching wind.

"It's too far." Shae returned, shielding his eyes from the grains of sand attempting to blind him. Nalasee again moved, building speed before leaping over the edge. Almost frozen by shock and horror, Shae maintained enough of his wits to grab her in the force. At first flailing like a newborn ronto, Shae found his strength and pushed her onto the edge. She landed in a nimble roll before turning back to Shae. Closing his eyes to block out his fear of heights, Shae backed up and jumped. He felt his own force leap augmented by Nalasee's touch in the force. He collided with the wall, the air knocked out of him, but with a death grip on the craig. He felt Nalasee grab onto his shoulders and haul him onto the craig. Without taking time to catch their breath, they sprinted up the small trail and toward the surface. They broke onto the hot red sand at a full clip, their lungs burning. Behind them, an enormous roar followed by a blinding light lit the fading sunset sky. Nalasee and Shae were thrown from their feet, tumbling down a red dune before coming to a tumbling stop at the bottom. Debris rained down all around them as the death throes of the listening post scattered itself across the lifeless desert. Despite all the effort for the contrary, they were alive.

With the scouring deserts of Talmun behind them, Shae and Nalasee stood before the Jedi council to give their report.

"The reports of mining operations on Ilum are disturbing." Master Skywalker said from his chair in the center of the council chambers.

"As is the production of 'rumble drug' in mass quantities on Falleen." Master Horn added.

"Whatever _The League_ is up to, it goes far beyond simple criminal activities." Master Katarn finished. "This demands the Jedi council's attention."

"With the events Dalaa has set into motion on Coruscant, can we afford to send a Master?" Horn pointed out.

"You're right as usual, Master Horn." Skywalker returned. "Until we discover Dalaa's plans for the Jedi Order, we cannot afford to send other Jedi off world. We are simply stretched too thin."

"Master Skywalker, are you suggesting we simply leave Prince Xizor and his thug Taltin to do what they please?" Nalasee blurted out. Skywalker shot her a disapproving glance before continuing.

"We cannot spare any more Jedi, but we can keep the Jedi already on the case involved. From the files we found we discovered two locations the information has been sent to." The holoprojector in the middle of the room flicked on as the lights darkened. An image of a watery blue world appeared. "The first is the ninth moon of Endor, specifically DS2-127." The Image shifted to that of an asteroid field, the center of which was occupied by a large installation built into an enormous floating asteroid. "The second is the remains of the Cairn installation located in the Lenico system."

" Master Skywalker, where would you like us to go first?" Shae asked.

"Both" Skywalker replied. "With _The League_ accelerating their plans, we have to do the same. Shae will go to Endor IX while Jedi Basar will go to the Cairn Installation. When one finishes, they'll meet up at the other's location."

"As you wish, Master Skywalker." Nalasee said as she bowed politely and turned to leave. A visibly frustrated Shae followed close behind. Shae didn't say anything to Nalasee as he left for his quarters to pick up his travel bag and head down to the starcraft hanger. He was irritated and slightly hurt, though he couldn't explain why. Shae and Nalasee hadn't spoken about what had happened between them in the sewer during the entire trip home. He felt as if something from himself had been stolen, and it left him feeling empty. Angrily he buried the emotions deep down and made his way toward _Claw_ 's berth in the hangar bay. The turbolift opened to the cacophony of shrieks and grinding that filled machine shops and hangars across the galaxy. Shae hated the smell of lubricants and fuels, but he was able to ignore them as he strode quickly around other craft being worked on toward his own vessel. He passed Nalasee's blue X-wing on the way to his own craft, and while he tried to force himself to move forward, something deep down inside of him froze him mid stride. With a defeated sigh he turned around and walked over to the craft. Di'kut, her idiotic R9 Astromech Droid, wheeled around idly nearby while Nalasee laid flat on her back staring into the underside of the starfighter.

"Pass me the hydrospanner Di'kut." She said extending her hand out from under the fighter's chassis.

"Bip beep boop." Shae said as he passed her the tool. She slid out from under the starfighter and sat up, placing her elbow on her knee.

"You still make a better astro droid than Di'kut." She said smirking.

"Can we talk for a second, about what you said in the sewers?" Shae asked quietly. Nalasee paused as she mulled it over.

"Look, everything I said was true, but can we really be good Jedi if we're always worried about each other. I've never had anything to lose before, and if I had to worry about you I don't know if I could do my job." She replied with a serious and sad look on her face.

"That's one way of looking at it." Shae said kneeling down beside her. "Or it could mean we now have something to fight for." Nalasee stared down at her hands for a few moments without responding. Frustrated, Shae stood up and turned to go.

"Shae!" Nalasee called back to him. Shae turned around. "It's worth fighting for." It was enough for Shae, enough for him to know that he would have a future when he returned. With a parting smile, Shae left and climbed aboard the _Claw_. He began prepping the ship for launch, but paused to watch as Nalasee's X-wing streak away from the hanger. He thought she might have waved as she ship passed by. He finished his final preparations and climbed into the pilot's seat. He fired up the engines, and with a calming smoothness, _Claw_ lifted from its berth. A few minutes later he cleared the atmosphere and shot off into hyperspace. The almost cross-galaxy flight would take a considerable amount of time, and Shae quickly realized that without Nalasee, the journey would be dull. He decided to do some research on his target instead. DS2-127, or Death Star 2-section 127, was at the bottom of Endor IX's planetwide ocean. Roughly a few hundred feet below the surface, the 800 foot section of the destroyed Second Death Star's equatorial trench and the toppled Emperor's throne had been designated a war grave by both the Imperial Remnant and the Galactic Alliance. Technically, it was a breach of an intergalactic treaty to be in the section, but the area was unguarded and _The League_ would have no trouble setting up a secret base of operations there. In fact, it would be the perfect place. By the time he finished his research, a blinking light indicating the end of his hyperspace journey winked on the cockpit control board and Shae dropped the vessel out of hyperspace. The blue orb that had appeared in his viewport would have been indistinguishable from a child's marble, it's nearly cloudless sky revealing nothing but ocean below. He dipped the craft down into its landing cycle and inputted the coordinates of the Death Star site. The shuttle took over the job of maneuvering the craft, and with the precision only a machine could muster, stopped over the location. Leaving the autopilot engaged, he moved down to the landing ramp. He removed his shirt and robe, took a deep breath and placed his rebreather in between his teeth as jumped from the ship.


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

The relatively warm water was easy enough for Shae to see through. The unpopulated ninth moon suffered from no pollution, and the sealife had flourished. Specimens of an incalculable number of species swam by Shae as he pushed his way deeper and deeper into the swirling waters. He looked at the small waterproof datapad on his wrist to confirm his location before adjusting his course. With eyes locked onto the datapad, he slowly made his way toward the watery tomb. Finally, his position marker and location marker formed into one, and he lowered the datapad. The dark and ominous curved wreck sat on the ocean floor far below. The tower had collapsed after the lower section had snapped off, leaving the remains of the tower resting at the end of the empty equilateral trench near the far edge of the wreck. He swam down to the trench before proceeding toward the tower. The once imposing turbolaser batteries were unrecognizable, the dilapidated barrels covered in coral and the tips rusted closed. He gave them only a brief glance as he swam by. An X-wing starfighter had crashed into the trench, it's barely recognizable aft thrusters still bore the red markings of the rebel alliance. He passed by this relic as well, finally arriving at the broken base of the tower. The turbolift which had once carried the most powerful men in the galaxy was long gone, but the turbolift shaft remained. Shae made a quick incision into the side of the tower using his lightsaber and entered the shaft. He swam upward until he reached a newer section only to discover that someone had installed a simple airlock for accessing the throne room. Activating it, the water around him drained as a hatch beneath his feet shut. A moment later the turbolift door opened slowly. Blaster in his left hand and saber in his right, Shae advanced through the door. He could see no one inside, and all he could feel was the powerful dark presence that resided there. Even thirty years after his death, The Emperor still left his mark on his domain. He moved through the room lit only by blue emergency lights. Suddenly, he saw The emperor's Throne, still facing the already decided Battle of Endor. He walked toward it when, without warning, the chair rotated to face him. Taltin's face was different than he had expected it. The man couldn't have been older than thirty, but his hair had turned a shocking white. The sharp angular face was unnaturally pale. The only thing more disconcerting than his wide, wicked smile, were the fiery orange eyes. Shae knew enough of Jedi lore to know what they meant, even if the lightsaber now hanging from Taltin's belt didn't confirm it. Taltin was no bounty hunter, instead he was something much darker and dangerous.

"Surprised?" He asked Shae. Shae whirled around to retreat, only to find four Mandalorian soldiers, two behind, and one to each side, standing a few paces away. "Going so soon?" Taltin said as he rose from the throne and moved to face Shae. Shae dropped his blaster into his holster and let the saber hang at his side as he began calculating his odds. One Mandalorian was enough of a challenge; four and a dark side acolyte, was certain death. Shae didn't intend to die alone though. "I'm so glad you fell for my little trap." Taltin said with an almost demonic chuckle. "Now the question is: do I kill you, or cripple you and make you watch your friend die slowly in front of you?"

"She couldn't make the trip this time." Shae said coolly, staring into Taltin's fiery eyes

"Oh that's fine. After I finish up here, I'll head over to the Cairn Installation to kill your girlfriend." Taltin replied smugly.

Shae was shaken, but he didn't let it show on his face. His mind raced searching for options of escape. Even a distraction for a half second would be enough. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

"Just keep talking." He told himself as he reached out in the force.

"I must admit that I am disappointed you didn't even think it was possible I would formulate a trap here." Taltin said as he stepped closer and placed his blue helmet on his head. Shae found what he was looking for. Through the Force, he found one of the thermal detonators attached to the belt of the tough looking Mando to his left and clicked the activation switch. The Mando was too well trained to panic, simply tossing it off into the other side of the room. However, the shock brought Shae a crucial second and he performed a masterful backflip to eliminate the trap. As the detonator exploded, he landed on the catwalk high and behind him and took off. He heard the roar of Jetpacks as the mercenaries shot off in pursuit. Two rockets exploded behind him, singeing the hair on the back of his neck. Two of the Mandos were coming from below and two from above. He came to a screeching halt and cut the catwalk from beneath his feet. One of the mandalorians couldn't turn in time and smashed into it with a wet smack. He dropped to the floor in an awkward pile unmoving. The second swerved away, buying Shae time to leap onto back of one of the passing hunters above him. With the jetpack unable to compensate for the added weight, they crashed to the floor as one. Shae felt the air leave his lungs, but managed to control the crash into a roll. The mando hit hard, but sprung up quick clutching a blaster pistol. Shae deflected the first two bolts before cutting off the pistol's barrel. He took advantage of the opening to step inside a quick right hook from the bladed fist of the Mando and catch the armored forearm. With a quick flick of his wrist, he snapped the man's arm like a twig. The Mando grunted and tried to step back, but Shae smashed his lightsaber hilt into the t-shaped visor, cracking it and sending the gunman to the floor in a heap. Without warning, Shae felt an intense burning shoot through his thigh as it exploded in pain. He half-collapsed half-turned to see the other two Mandalorians streaking toward him, one of whom was wielding a smoking verpine shatter gun. He dove for a small computer console as he was chased by more bolts. He felt a danger tinge in the Force, and dashed forward seconds before the console exploded in fiery shards of metal shrapnel. Firing wrist rockets with deadly accuracy, the Mandalorians came in for the kill. Shae snatched one of the rockets from mid air and sent it spinning back. The Mando who had fired it had no chance to dodge it, and he disappeared in a ball of orange fire. The blast separated the second mando from his jetpack, but he used the momentum of the fall to crash hard into Shae. Shae felt something break inside as several hundred pounds of armor and man collided with him. Shae struck the Mando in the throat with a force assisted chop that disabled the mercenary long enough for Shae to roll him off of him. Shae attempted to end the fight then and there with a powerful downward slash, but the Mando rolled away from the strike and came up on one knee. He fired a vibro whip from his wrist gauntlet that instantly entangled the Jedi and pinned his arms to his side. The Mando drew his shattergun and fired. With agility he would never have thought possible, Shae dodged the slugs before flipping into the Mando and kicking him in the chest. The merc was knocked back a step and the shattergun fell from his grasp. A small vibroblade ejected from above his knuckle and he charged Shae. Sidestepping just enough, the blade cut the whip and Shae was free. He had no time to recall the lightsaber. The next strike was aimed for his throat and Shae wasn't able to dodge it completely. The blade slice a long jagged mark into his face. He felt hot blood running down his nose as he swept his leg into the side of his enemy's knee and buckled it. The Mando dropped and Shae recalled his lightsaber to him. Just as it hit his hand the Mando brought his wrist blaster up and fired. Shae's strike took the warriors head from his shoulders, but he felt the blaster bolt tear through his side. The agony that shot through his body almost forced him to blackout. Dropping to one knee to catch his ragged breath, Shae saw the Mando with the broken arm rising to his feet. The helmeted warrior scooped up a blaster pistol from the floor with his good hand and begin firing it with deadly accuracy. With his stamina failing him, Shae knew he had to end the fight fast. Marshalling his remaining strength, he charged. Blaster bolts bounced of his lightsaber in every direction as he closed with the unflinching gunman. With a powerful force leap, Shae covered the final short distance to his target. The lightsaber plunged through the cracked visor with a sharp finality. The lifeless body of the Mando collapsed as did Shae. While at first comforted that his efforts were over, a thought raced into his mind with the speed of a podracer.

"Where's Taltin?" Shae got an answer as a booted foot collided with his face. He tumbled backwards as he tasted blood in his mouth. He tried to rise, only to see Taltin aiming the crimson blade toward his throat. Defiantly, Shae stood up and brought his lightsaber back into a defensive position. With barely controlled fury, Shae charged, lightsaber whirling. Taltin caught each of his blows with an almost casual ease, not even bothering to counter as he toyed with the dying Jedi. Finally, Taltin tired of his game and blasted shae with a bolt of force lighting. Shae screamed in agony as the lighting attacked every nerve ending. He felt his lightsaber slip from his grasp as he collapsed breathlessly to the ground. Taltin lowered his saber and snatched up Shae's fallen weapon.

"I'll give you credit, that was pretty good." Came the delighted voice of Shae's demise. Shae began to slowly crawl backwards, fear clawing its way to his heart. "In fact you're so good I'd almost consider training you myself. Unfortunately, I don't think my master would take kindly to that. I guess I'll just go ahead and kill you" Taltin said as he raised his lightsaber to strike the killing blow.

"I'm not dead yet." Shae gasped as he reached across the room with the last of his will and clicked the trigger of one of the dead Mando's wrist rockets with the Force. The rocket shot out and detonated against the window behind the throne, shattering it. Water roared in with vengeance. With a smile smug enough to be felt, Taltin deactivated his weapon.

"I think I'll just let you die the slow way. Who knows? Maybe you'll live and I'll still get to make you watch your pretty little friend die painfully in front of you. All part of the fun I guess." he said as he left the room and boarded the elevator. Shae felt the water closing around him, but he didn't submit to death. An untamable urge to survive came over him, giving him the strength to crawl.

"The Emperor must have had some way of escape other than the elevator." Shae thought, his fading vision surveying the room for any means of escape. They fell upon the throne and realization struck Shae. "It's my only shot." He told himself as he crawled toward the throne. He pulled himself onto it and searched frantically for some sort of switch. He found none, and was almost willing to simply accept his fate, when another idea came to him. Searching out the chair in the Force, he found a switch inside the throne and flipped it. The sides of the throne enveloped him and sealed him inside a small pod. He vaguely felt upward motion as his mind stopped.


	14. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

The lush green meadow Shae found himself in was the most beautiful he had ever seen. The solitary yellow sun hung lazily overhead in its mid-afternoon position. Some scattered clouds made their way through the brilliant blue sky at a lethargic pace. The tall trees were unrecognizable to Shae, but they were magnificent in every sense of the word. Somewhere nearby, a river rushed through the forest on some urgent task, the only thing in the forest with any haste it seemed. He could hear the indistinct rustling of small woodland animals in the trees. The natural serenity was broken by a happy and familiar voice. "Shae come here!" Nalasee's voice said from behind a small grove. Pushing aside a small cluster of branches, Shae saw Nalasee sitting in the center of the clearing of the meadow. With a playful laugh, she rose up and ran for the trees.

"Wait up!" Shae said as he set off in an equally playful pursuit.

"Come find me." Came the cheerful reply, repeated again and again. Shae pushed his way deeper into the forest. However, as he did so, the trees disappeared, replaced by distant starlight. Impossibly, he seemed to be running through space. Nalasee cries grew more panicked and pained. With growing fear, Shae ran harder. He could see her face, pain etched across its beloved features. "Shae, please come find me." The voice had become a whimper. He suddenly stopped in space as he saw a familiar place. A large asteroid with a Imperial installation set inside of it. Nalasee's voice suddenly began to change, until it had morphed from her desperate voice, to the mocking tone of Taltin's. All around him the voice rang out taunting him.

"Yeah Shae, come and find me. That way you could see all the fun were having." The sadistic voice taunted. Suddenly, he heard a final scream from Nalasee, and his world exploded. The starscape was replaced by the clinical white of a medical bay. He felt like he had been the object of a Rancor's wrath. He groaned painfully, and a nearby medical droid trundled over to his bedside.

"Ah, you're awake. Whether or not that would ever happen was in doubt for a considerable amount of time." The droid's cheerful preprogrammed voice chimmed.

"How much time?" Shae croaked. His throat felt like sandpaper.

"We found you roughly 20 standard hours ago in the lifepod." The droid stated matter-of-factly. "Though how long you were in there is beyond my calculations."

"So the lifepod worked." Shae thought to himself. He wondered if the vision he had experienced had been from Nalasee or Taltin. Either way things didn't look good for Nalasee. "How bad of shape am I in?" Shae asked the droid. The medical unit paused to collect his medical records.

"You have 4 broken ribs, a punctured kidney, a shattered femur, a concussion, and numerous bad lacerations." The droid listed off categorically.

"In fact, I was almost hoping you wouldn't survive so that I might be able to determine the source of your amazing survivability."

"Thanks." Shae said annoyed.

"You're quite welcome." The droid said, missing the sarcastic comment entirely. "If you would excuse me for a moment, I was ordered to call the captain as soon as you regained consciousness."

"Who is the captain?" Shae asked, but the droid had already left. "Better yet, what ship am I on." He said to himself.

"The retired Imperial Star Destroyer _Piett_." Came the voice of former Imperial Admiral Amiston from the entryway into the medical bay.

"I guess I should thank you for saving me." Shae said begrudgingly

"Not at all. It was pure chance." Amiston said with a thin smile. "The pod you were in was displaying an old Imperial code. I was hoping it was some sort of Empire-era piece of art or some other relic. I was severely disappointed it was only a mostly-dead Jedi."  
"What kept you from just letting me suck vacuum?" Shae asked frankly.

"I'm an Imperial officer, not a monster." Amiston replied offended. Shae stifled a remark that would probably have not helped the situation and instead said:

"So what happens now?"

"What happens now is you get well enough to get off my ship and back to whatever you were doing." Amiston returned coldly. Shae evaluated his options. His recovery would take some time, and time was something Nalasee did not have. Even if he did manage to regain his strength before Taltin decided Shae was dead and killed Nalasee, Shae would be on his own in attacking the headquarters of a galactic crime organization. It would take weeks before the Jedi would get permission to send a strikeforce into the Imperial controlled Cairn Installation. Shae realized with disdain that he would need Amiston's help. He tried thinking of a way to broach the question, before simply choosing the honest approach.

"I need your help Amiston." Shae said emotionlessly.

"You must be joking." Amiston said, his thin and humorless smile growing more so.

"No joke, I got jumped by the head of security for _The League_ and from what I can tell, Jedi Basar is their prisoner on the Cairn Installation."

"Such a shame too. Her appreciation for art will be dearly missed." Amiston returned more gloomily than sad. It took all of Shae's willpower to not strangle the arrogant officer.

"You know Xizor is a threat to the everyone, including the Empire. The G.A. knows it. The Confederation knows it. Stopping them helps the Empire." Shae pointed out.

"For once, you and I are in complete agreement. As soon as I return to the Empire, I will recommend to Head of State Fel that we destroy the vermin immediately." Amiston returned sternly.

"If we wait that long Basar will die." Shae said almost pleadingly

"Then what would you suggest I do? Fly right into the teeth of the enemy against improbable odds and get blown to smithereens?" Amiston snapped back. "So convince me Jedi. Why should I risk my life and my ship to save one Jedi?"

"The art you have in your study, _The Empire Will Always Strike Back_ , I know its history too, what happened at that battle. Pellaeon could have just fled, he would have had every right to He was outgunned and outmatched and facing certain death. But, he knew that doing so would sacrifice the lives of millions. So he did the right thing and stayed." Shae returned.

"The lives of millions and the life of one are not the same." Amiston replied.

"It's still the right thing. Whether one million or one, it doesn't matter, Pellaeon did it because it was the right thing." Shae said with resolve. "If you don't do the right thing, then I will."

"Very well Master Jedi, you have convinced me. I too, will do the right thing. " Amiston returned, a newfound respect in his voice. " The journey to the Cairn Installation will be a while, and preparations for our attack have to be made. Be ready for a briefing in 24 hours."

"I'll be there." Shae returned.

Between bacta and his meager force healing skills, as well as the excellent medical droids aboard the _Piett_ , Shae managed to recover enough of his strength to make it to the bridge for the meeting. His body was still getting used to the flash cloned kidney, and the limp he walked with was clearly noticeable, but he arrived on the bridge as promised. Amiston was already there, standing beside the droid captain in the darkened bridge next to a holoboard projecting an image of the Cairn Asteroid belt. "It doesn't look good to say the least." Amiston said grimly as he stroked his white mustache. "They have at least three cruisers better armed and equipped than we are as well as three squadrons of assorted fighters. The only advantage we have is in armor. We'd never get close enough to the station to engage in a turbolaser bombardment." Shae pondered the problem. He had never been skilled in military tactics, but he was skilled at thinking outside the box.

"What if we used the _Piett_ to distract the defenses while a small strike team snuck aboard. I'd escort them to the installation's anti-matter core and the strike team could return to their ships while I went after Jedi Basar." Shae suggested.

"A reasonable plan, although I see two major flaws. The first is should the strike force fail to destroy the installation, the _Piett_ could possibly suffer serious damage. The second is should the strike team succeed, you would have very little time to find Jedi Basar and get out of the installation." Amiston returned.

"Don't worry about me and my partner getting out, we have an uncanny amount of luck, plus we run pretty fast. As for the escape plan, if we can't reach the reactor, I'll let you know and you can leave the system without waiting for strike team will jump to hyperspace and I'll figure out another way to get Basar out." Shae said.

"Very good of you to take all the risks in this affair Master Jedi. The plan is simple and sound, two very important things, and it will suit our purposes. As for the strike team, I have the perfect group of gentleman in mind. I assume you are Familiar with Master Fett?" Almost on cue, a figure in green mandalorian strode through the bridge doors. Shae wondered how Amiston had not only foreseen the need for a strike team, but had also managed to get Fett there in record time. Of course, being the former head of the Imperial Security Bureau meant that you were a very farsighted individual with excellent contacts. Amiston briefly explained the plan to Fett.

"My men and I shouldn't have any trouble gaining access to the reactor room." Fett said, indicating its location on the holomap.

"We are now," Amiston said as he looked at the bridges chrono. "20 hours away from our arrival at the Cairn Asteroid belt. Get some rest, you'll need it." Fett turned to go and Shae followed him out of the bridge.

"Why'd you take this job Fett?" Shae asked as he limped beside the bounty hunter.

"Amiston pays well." Fett returned evenly.

"That's poodoo Fett and you know it. There's easier ways to make a credit than going against an underground criminal empire." Shae returned sharply. At first Shae thought Fett was simply going to walk away, but then the old Mando stopped and turned to face him.

"Guessing from your current state, I assume you found out Taltin's little secret?" Fett said coldly.

"You know Taltin?" Shae asked puzzled.

"I know him, but I knew his father better. Taltin's father served under me during the Yuuzhan Vong's attack on Mandalore. Him and his son stayed behind with a few other commando's to hold up the Vong while the main force retreated. From what I gathered from the Vong we caught and interrogated, Taltin and his father were the only survivors from the battle. Taltin's father died in captivity and the twisted barves tortured Taltin. When we hauled him out of a Vong camp after the crab boys jumped planet, they had completely broken him. He left Mandalore and disappeared from the galaxy."

"But you tried to keep tabs on him." Shae stated.

"I owed his father a debt, and I always pay up. If he needed help I would be there for him. I was sure he would wind up dead from spice overdose in some alley on an Outer Rim backwater. So, I was surprised when he turned up a few years ago as a bounty hunter doing a few odd jobs for high paying clients. Then my sources told me what those jobs were. He was collecting Sith artifacts, and doing anything to do so. There's a whole village of women and children sacrificed to a Sith spirit on Ziosk who could attest to that." Fett finished. "Ever seen a mad Nek before?" Fett asked, a slight fire in his voice. Shae shook his head. "When a Nek goes crazy, it'll kill anything and anyone in its path. They can't feel pain so they wind up doing serious damage before they're put down. Taltin's a mad Nek. He needs to be put down for the whole galaxy's sake. That's what Taltin's father would have wanted" Shae pondered the new information as Fett turned and walked back down the hall. Fett was scared, and Fett didn't scare period. Taltin needed to be out down like Fett said, and Shae just hoped he could do it.

When Shae woke a few hours later, he felt better. The bacta had helped reduce the pain in his leg and side to a manageable state. He rose up from his small ship's bunk and made his way to the ship's armory. As he expected, Fett and his Mandos where already suiting up inside. Shae ignored them and began strapping on his gear, which had been recovered along with _Claw_ when the Imperials had found him. He still ached, but he didn't let it show on his face. He reached for the spot his lightsaber normally sat, before remembering Taltin had taken it. "Another thing I'll be sure to retrieve." Shae told himself as he instead snapped a blaster pistol to his side and retrieved a cortosis vibro sword and its sheath from the armory. He attached it to his back and grabbed a few other small arms, including thermal detonators, before turning to face Fett. Wordlessly, Fett and the five other Mandos brushed by him. Stepping in line behind them, Shae and the strike team made their way down to the hanger of the _Piett_. Without the orders and chatter of a normal crew, the mostly droid repair workers fueled the automated Tie/D Starfighters with an almost eerie silence. Grim determination filled the human presences aboard as well. The odds would not be in their favor, yet they had no choice. It was all or nothing for Shae. He still feared Taltin, and he doubted that he and Nalasee would have a chance to beat him. The thousands of possible scenarios played out in his mind, when he suddenly came face to face with Fett's T-shaped visor.

"Don't overthink this Jedi. Shoot straight and run fast, then we all get out alive." Fett said almost reading Shae's thoughts. While not particularly comforting, the advice cleared Shae's mind of distractions as he watched Fett board the Tra'kad his commandos had already boarded.

"May the Force be with you Fett." Shae said under his breath before boarding the _Claw_ and firing up its main drives. Finding the ships chrono above the hangar doors, he synchronized the countdown time on his control panel with the mission clock.

"T-minus five, four, three, two, one… Launch!" Came the automated traffic controller as the blue streams of hyperspace outside the shielded hangar door reverted back to starlight. _Claw_ was the first ship out, followed by the Tra'Kad and three squadrons of the automated Tie fighters.

"Stick on my tail Fett and I'll clear you a way though." Shae said into the comlink. Shae diverted more power to his shields and laser cannons as dozens of small fighters emerged from behind drifting asteroids. Directly ahead lay the Cairn Installation. He bobbed and weaved around the small craft, all the while pushing closer and closer to the installation. He poured laser fire into any starfighter that got into the range of his laser cannons until he noticed a small fighter creeping up behind the Tra'kad. With a quick maneuver, he placed himself behind the gunship and starfighter. The mercenary pilot never saw the laser blasts that incinerated his cockpit. As they pushed through the outer defenses, the cruiser emerged from their docks and moved to engage the _Piett_. Cannon fire streaked across space as the ships engaged with their massive turbolasers, lighting up the space all around them. "Good luck." He said to himself as he closed with the facility. The enemy fighters had mostly overlooked them, instead engaging the swarm of Tie fighters that had massed around the frigates and had began peppering their massive hulls with laser fire and concussion missiles. Ahead, the Installation finally took notice of them and began firing their laser cannons at the incoming fighters. Shae snapped off a pair of concussion missiles at the batteries directly over the hanger before adjusting his aim and firing another pair into the shield generators. The ray shields dropped just as the Tra'kad passed through the inner energy shield and touched down in the hanger. Decelerating and bringing the _Claw_ down beside it, Shae prepared to go and find Nalasee.


	15. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

As Shae arrived at the bottom of the ramp, a squad of soldiers were already at the hanger's doors. Despite being past the age of 70, Fett's reflexes were still almost Jedi like in speed. His blaster was the first up and the first to fire. The bolt dropped one of the guards as Shae's blaster bolt took another between the eyes. The other two tried to dive for cover, but the hail of blaster fire that enveloped them melted the durasteel decking and ended their time as a threat to the strike force. Fett made his way down the ramp followed by his Mandos. "Mas and Taelyor, head up to the security station and take control of it. Give the guards something to think about other than us. " Fett said. The two Mandos assigned to the task nodded and went about their task wordlessly. "The rest of you are with me." Fett said indicating the entry the guards had just come from. They moved through the hallways unopposed outside of a few small patrols. Shae wished that they had fought the whole way.

"Anything about this feel wrong?" Shae asked Fett.

"Other than the fact this is too kriffing easy and that it's definitely a trap?" Replied a short, broad shouldered Mando woman in yellow armor bringing up the rear of the formation. Nothing else was said, and the party continued until they arrived at a dead end.

"Were now Fett?" Shae asked looking for a secret entryway.

"Forward." Fett said as he bent over and to Shae's shock, fired the jetpack rocket into the wall. The loud roar and ensuing explosion made Shae wish he had the benefit of the commandos helmets as he leaped through the hole the explosion had made in the wall. Soldiers in various states of undress were recovering as the Mandos and Shae stormed the room. With lethal precision, they cut them down as the guards dived for any available weapons that had been scattered by the blast. As Shae holstered his blaster, he realized that the room was the guardhouse, and that Fett had just eliminated most of their opposition on this side of the base in one swift move. Shae's respect for the bounty hunter's prowess begrudgingly rose several notches as they passed through the ruined remains of the room and exited onto the other side. They rounded to more corners before arriving at a narrow service corridor. Without any other option, they formed into a single file line and began the tense march through the entry. Halfway through and with Shae beginning to feel as if they could make it through the hazardous march unopposed, the unmistakable VRRRMMM of a lightsaber instantly drew everyone's attention. Dropping from the ceiling, the blade decapitated the yellow mando before flipping into a standing position on the floor. The darkness of the hall was lit by the yellowish blade as Shae changed direction and placed one boot on the wall. Springboarding off of his makeshift launcher, Shae unsheathed the Vibro sword and swung. The saber moved awkwardly in the narrow corridor to counter the strike. Shae's blow smashed the blade aside before a quick thrust drove their ambusher further back. An overextended slash by the yellow saber opened up Shae's avenue for a fatal strike. The blade passed through flesh and a hoarse shriek echoed down the cavern as the saber clattered to the floor and deactivated. Shae was almost blinded by the light of Fett's headlamp as he examined the human corpse dressed in a simple brown tunic on the floor.

"I guess that would explain the crystals and the rumble-drugs." Fett said upon seeing the bloodshot eyes of the dead man. The plan all made sense to Shae now. He remembered hearing about how the Imperial Remnant had tried to create artificial Force users during the waning days of the Galactic Civil War using Kyber crystals at this very facility. Judging from the unskilled Force user he had just encountered, _The_ _League_ had apparently recreated the process. The rumble-drugs were simply a way to recruit and control the chosen targets.

"This facility has to be destroyed or else _The League_ will have an army of these Force users. They could topple governments, commit acts of terror,or even start an intergalactic war." Shae said as the realization dawned on him. Fett nodded in silent agreement and began moving down the hallway with greater speed. Leaving the two corpses behind, they exited the corridor and began the sprint down the hallway. They turned the corner and moved passed the last set of blast doors before the reactor room's entrance. That was when they came face to face with a wall of the robed figures, all of whom held lightsaber hilts in their hands.

"I hope you're really good Jedi." Fett muttered under his breath. The unnerving orchestra of lightsabers activating was broken as Fett shouted: "Spread out and open fire!" The Mandos were well trained and didn't panic at the ambush. Taking cover wherever it was available, the Mandos began pouring blaster and rocket fire into the group of force wielders. The faux-Jedi leaped and scattered in all directions as they moved to engage the invaders. Shae waded into the fray, vibro sword swinging. He moved to engaged two of the Force wielders at once, keeping them at bay with rapid strikes as the roar of the battle surrounded them. Shae countered the blow of one before spinning off to put his sword through the unguarded chest of another. He then pivoted to engage the first Force wielder again. This one proved to be harder to beat, countering each of Shae's strikes with desperation as Shae backed him into a corner until a blaster bolt from one of the Mando's blasters burned through the Force wielders face and toppled him to the floor. This proved serendipitous, as a third duelist charged from the fray to engage Shae a moment later. Countering the attack and engaging with his own, Shae's eyes darted over his shoulder to check on the mando's position near the blast doors. It wasn't good. A Mandalorian in a forest green armor lay dead on the floor, his lower half a few feet away from his head and shoulders. Fett and another had taken position behind the cover of a rock outcropping and were using their flamethrowers to keep the crazed guards at bay. Shae realized that Fett's position would be overcome in minutes without his help. He cut down his opponent with two swift strokes before leaping over the heads of a small cluster of the warriors and moving in behind the mass of Force-wielding attackers. Two of them disengaged from the Mandos in order to engage him, but the first was to slow in his turn and Shae cut him down with a quick stroke. The second found his footing, but had no more luck than his companion and was dead within seconds. Ducking behind the a rock outcropping, Shae drew his pistol.

"We can't get through this way." Fett said with eerie calm.

"What do you want to do, run?" Shae shouted as he emptied half of the pistols power pack into a crowd of the oncoming attackers.

"Strategic withdrawal." Fett said as he unclipped a thermal detonator from his belt and clicked it on. He flicked the grenade towards the first wave. Their attackers tried to make a clumsy attempt to throw it out of the way with the Force, the result of which was the detonator exploding against the asteroid ceiling instead of in front of them and burying them under a few feet of rock. Fett made the dash for the door. "Mas, you and Taeylor better have that control room." Fett said into his mike as he leaped over a small cluster of dead bodies and onto the other side of the door. Shae barely made it through before it slammed shut behind him.

"That won't hold them long." Shae said staring at the door, which was already beginning to glow red with heat of lightsabers being used to cut into it.

"Amiston, the main routes blocked. I need another entryway into the reactor room." Fett said as he pulled up and stopped in front of a large window that gave them a clear view of the space battle outside. From what Shae could tell, Amiston was getting the worst of it. The _Piett_ was on fire, and it seemed as if the majority of its fighter protection had been destroyed as the mercenary fighters made strafing runs with impunity against the big destroyer.

"There is no other way into the reactor, although I do have an alternative solution." Came Amiston's static-addled reply. Suddenly, the destroyer vanished from realspace, only to reappear again a few miles away from the installation.

"What are you pulling Amiston?" Fett asked, a little anger entering his voice. " Cairn's shields will absorb most of the damage if you ram the station."

"Wait, is he going to ram the station?" Shae asked in numb disbelief.

"It won't destroy the station, but it will knock it out of orbit, and on a collision course with the nearby sun according to my calculations." Amiston replied, calmly ignoring Shae's question.

"There's got to be another way Amiston. Just give us some more time." Shae shouted into the comm unit.

"I'm afraid not, Master jedi. The _Piett_ has accelerated to a speed to great for me to stop it." Came Amiston's almost sorrowful reply.

"Why are you doing this Amiston? You could've gotten out of here and no one would have cared. " Shae said quietly.

"Why Shae, I wish you had been paying more attention to mine and Master Basar's lovely conversation earlier." Amiston responded proudly. "Regardless of rank, The Lady and The Squire go back in the same box at the end of the game. Amiston out." The comm shut off as Shae realized what Amiston meant.

"I guess the Empire will always strike back." Shae said quietly to himself.

"Let's move." Fett said to the other Mando as Shae snapped back to reality. They began to sprint just as the door exploded open. Force-wielders poured from the other side of the door, but Shae, the other Mando, and Fett had too much of a lead on them. Halfway down the hallway the explosion that marked the _Piett_ 's final act rocked the station so hard, Shae lost his footing and fell to the ground. Automatically, dozens of the sealed blast doors slammed shut to prevent an explosive decompression of the station. The lights went out for a half-minute before the emergency red-lighting came on. Fett stopped short of the closest blast door and got on the comm.

"Mas, clear us a way out of here and to the hanger. Be sure to have the doors shut behind us to slow them down."

"Fett we still, don't have Basar, I'm not leaving."

"That's your problem Jedi, not mine. I've been paid and my objective is taken care of." Fett returned coldly.

"How 'bout the fact I saved you back there. Doesn't that count for something?" Shae asked almost pleadingly.

"Enough for me to have Mas clear you a way to where they're holding her and not much else." Fett said as the doors in front of him slid open. "Good luck Jedi." Fett said as he made his way down the opening and closing doors to the hanger.

"That'll be enough." Shae said to himself, as a new path of doors opened to the left. Shae ran through them as they parted before him like grass. He followed the doors until they spilled out into a large warehouse-like area. There, he slowed to a careful walk as he ducked behind a tower of large crates. The crew of the station was already evacuating, leaving behind the valuable cargo of drugs and crystals in favor of saving their own offered up a silent thanks to Amiston for his sacrifice. His eyes took in the room and he found what looked like Xizor's private office overlooking the work area. "That must be where they're holding her." He thought to himself as he began making his way towards it. Without an unguarded turbolift to grant him access to the office, he decided to make his way to the large viewports which gave the office a view of the production floor roughly. Shae scrambled atop a pile of crates before leaping to a slightly taller stack directly ahead. From there, he jumped to the narrow catwalk that gave access to the office and rolled to a stop. Ascending a small flight of stairs Shae was just about to enter the office's durasteel portal when a pair of guards exited the office. With a frantic leap, Shae jumped from the catwalk onto the roof of the office. Not wanting to wait for the guards to pass, he slowly crawled along the roof until he made it to the window.

Nalasee hadn't ever experienced torture during her short time as a Jedi knight, but she had always been capable of pain tolerance that Master Korr had called amazing. It was now being tested by the electrified stun cuffs on her wrist. The cuffs had tiny needles on the inner side which penetrated the skin and allowed direct injection of drugs or electric shocks, a task which had been done an uncountable number of times since they had been attached. She couldn't remember how long the pain had been going on, only it seemed like it had always existed. She couldn't gather her thoughts or think logically, only scream every time another jolt of electricity rocketed through her. The pain seemed to carry on for eternity before it stopped, and she sagged in the shackles that suspended her a few feet above the floor.

"Just call Shae. Okay? It can all stop if you just call out to him in the Force." The voice that said this seemed to be distant, but completely logical.

"But calling Shae would give him what he wanted." Nalasee told herself. She didn't know who "he" was or why he wanted her to call out to Shae, but she knew she couldn't let him make her. Her mind began to clear, as did her vision, and Taltin's smug face came into view. She remembered everything again now. How She had been ambushed right out of hyperspace, how she had been captured and brought here. How Taltin had used the Force to manipulate her into sending Shae a message. The last had been the most shameful, as she had thought it was impossible for her to be manipulated by the Force. But since then she had strengthened her focus and resolve. He would not use her to get to Shae again.

"Usen'ye." She replied hoarsely and cracked a thin smile.

"How sweet, she can insult me in Mando'a." Taltin said. Nalasee's eye evaluated the room carefully. Ignoring the barely visible trappings of the room, she instead focused on its occupants. Taltin, along two guards, and Xizor himself where the only ones she could find.

"Guards, leave us." The Fallen prince said from his throne in the center of the room. Saluting, the two guards left the room. Taltin walked toward her, coming within inches of her face.

"You think you are being very brave don't you Nalasee." Taltin said quietly, a hateful expression on his face. She didn't answer and he smiled. "You see I really don't need your help. I learned this thing I can do with the force. See Xizor over there." He said indicating the unnaturally erect Fallen. "See he's not the real Xizor. Truth is, the real Xizor died when Vader vaporized him over Coruscant. But Xizor figured he could cheat death by cloning himself and flash training the clone with his memories. Except for one problem, I found the clone first. Ever heard of shaping someone's mind with the force? What happens is I take full control of someone's thought and actions by changing their mind with the Force. Here, watch this." Taltin said with wicked glee. Suddenly, Xizor snatched a blaster pistol from his belt and placed it against his temple. He pulled the trigger, but the pistol clicked as a sign of an empty charge in the clip. "See it works so well I was able to gain control of this whole criminal organization and its resources just so I could further my own ends. Now, I could simply just do the mindshaping technique on you, but it takes so long and is so boring. However, if you keep being uncooperative I might just go ahead and do it and then have you kill Shae just for my enjoyment." Nalasee felt a twinge of panic spark though her at the thought. Was this how her vision would come true? As a puppet of a crazed dark sider?

"No." she told herself as she dug into an inner resolve. "If you could have done it," Nalasee said slowly and painfully. "you would have done it already." She finished. "So go ahead and start shaping." The wicked smile disappeared from Taltin's face. It was replaced by an ugly mask of pure rage.

"That's not the only way I can draw him out. If I cause enough pain, Shae will feel it in the Force. I guess I'll just go with option two." He said as he raised the controller for the cuffs to her eyes. She braced herself for more pain. She wasn't even sure Shae was alive; his lightsaber was hanging from Taltin's belt like a trophy after all. Maybe it was all just a sick game to Taltin, and she would be his prisoner forever. Just when she felt despair began to overwhelm her, she heard a familiar and welcome voice.

"Drop it Taltin." Shae's voice said from the entryway. At first she thought it was her imagination playing tricks on her, until she saw him standing in the doorway aiming a blaster pistol at Taltin.

"Ah Shae. I suppose me almost killing you didn't satisfy you, so you came to have me finish the job." Taltin said as he turned to face his new advisary.

"Something like that" Shae said as he clicked the blaster's safety off.

"He must be crazy." Nalasee told herself. "He can't hope to beat Taltin alone, unless…" She saw his gaze shift slightly up at her shackled wrists. He snapped off two bolts as Taltin's crimson lightsaber flared to life to stop them. Except, they flew over his head and outstretched blade and into Nalasee's binders. She dropped to the floor, landing with more grace than she expected, and called her lightsaber from Taltin's belt with the Force. The violet blade snapped to life and she charged. Taltin turned and countered her blows with urgency. She drove him across the room as Shae snapped the blaster pistol up and tried to fire, only to be tackled by the Xizor clone. Firing off a pair of bolts into the clone's chest, Shae resighted and fired the last of his bolts. Using a force push to knock Nalasee back, Taltin gave himself space to block the bolts. He grabbed Shae with the force and hurled him across the room and into Nalasee. Together, they crumpled to the floor in a heap. Nalasee looked up to see the crimson blade aimed down at her, again.

"Now that you're both together, I can kill you. But which shall go first?" He said as he paused for dramatic effect. "I think I'll be gentlemanly and kill the lady first." Taltin said as he raised the saber. But Nalasee wasn't looking at the source of her impending death, instead she was looking up into the window behind Taltin, where blaster fire chased a a rocket screaming through the air. With a powerful Force push, she shoved herself and Shae backwards. They slammed into the back wall as the missile struck the roof of the building, collapsing it on top of Taltin. He let out a short scream as the permacrete piled on top of him. To Nalasee's consternation, Boba Fett stood in the window behind the rock pile.

"I always pay up." Is all he said before turning and soaring back out the shattered glass.


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Nalasee slowly, and somewhat painfully, rose to her feet and extended a hand to Shae. He took it and carried it all the way up into a tight embrace.

"I never should have let you go alone." He said, his voice choked. "It was my fault. If we had gone together Taltin never would have…" Nalasee held up a hand to for him to stop.

"You were just doing your job, just like I was just doing mine. If we are going to do this we can't be worrying about the other every time we're apart okay?" She said soothingly. Shae nodded and walked over to where his lightsaber had fallen from Taltin's belt before scooping it up and placing it back on his belt.

"Are you okay?" Shae asked as he turned back to her.

"I am now." She replied stiffly.

"Good, because we need to get out of here before this place flies straight into a sun." Shae said as he turned and leapt through the shattered window.

"Wait. What?" Nalasee said somewhat befuddled. She followed him out the window and made her way down to the ground by leaping across several tall stacks of packing crates. Apparently, the crew of the station knew of Cairn's unchangeable fate as well. The crew ran in a panic towards anything still flyable in the hanger or any escape pods as Nalasee and Shae made their way toward the main hanger. They rounded the corner to find four of the Force-users wandering aimlessly. Having seen their work firsthand and knowing that they were controlled by Taltin, she assumed his demise had left them zombified vegetables. This thought was disproven when, upon seeing them, they activated their lightsabers and charged. Bringing her saber up, she caught the attack of the first on her blade before ducking to avoid the attack of the second. A brutal kick knocked the wind out of her second attacker, giving her time to turn and drive her first attacker back into a corner. Sensing the leaping slash of the second, she dived out of they way as the strike intended for her ended the life of the first attacker. With a shocked expression on his face, the second man didn't even see the thrust that ended his own life seconds later. Nalasee turned to find the corpses of the other two at Shae's feet. He started running again and Nalasee began to keep better pace as she rediscovered her strength. They rounded two more corners before entering a long stretch of hallway heading toward the hanger. Scorch marks and blood littered the walls, a sign the Mandos had elected to clear a route the hard way. They met little resistance on their way to the ship, most of the crew had already abandoned ship and either scrambled aboard the damaged frigates, or had jumped off to the four corners of the galaxy. They rounded the final corner just as a massive Tra'Kad lifted off from the platform and made for open space. Fett, as she could only assume it was, had already cleared the few still fighting mercenaries from the hanger in order to escape. Entering the landing pad inside the hanger, she saw the familiar form of the _Claw_ resting peacefully on its struts, waiting to be launched. However, something didn't feel right. There was a cold in the Force that shouldn't have been there. The unmistakable icy hand of the dark side clasped the room in its clutches. Fear began to tug at her heart. The presence was familiar, too familiar. "Shae, wait up." She said. Shae came to a stop and waited for her to come beside him.

"You sense it too?" Shae asked quietly as he unclipped his lightsaber.

"The dark Side." Nalasee said, staring off toward the _Claw_ , resting seemingly within reach, but still with a final obstacle to overcome. From behind the ship, a battered, but very much alive Taltin stepped in front of them. The crimson lightsaber in his hand was tipped toward the floor in a preparatory pose.

"I must give you credit Jedi. That was as close as anyone has ever come to beating me." Taltin said. His helmet was gone, only the pale bleeding face showed from the battered blue Mandalorian armor. "However, this time you won't have Boba Fett to save you."

"Give up Taltin." Nalasee said with more courage than she felt. "Everything you worked for is destroyed. Even if you do kill us, there'll be more Jedi after you. You'll be on the run and with no criminal underground to help you. I can promise you a fair trial." Taltin snorted contemptuously.

"I built one criminal empire, I can always build another." Taltin said coldly.

"Well then, by the authority of the Galactic Alliance, you are under arrest." Nalasee returned as she snapped her violet lightsaber to life. Shae did the same as Taltin brought his lightsaber even with them.

"Prepare to become one with the Force, Jedi." Taltin said as he leapt forward. The fight to the death was on. Nalasee countered the blow and pivoted to put him in between herself and Shae. Taltin wouldn't be boxed in, as he drove her back so quickly Shae couldn't close with a strike. He backed her against a shipping crate and intended to finish the fight then and there with a decapitating slash, but Nalasee found a defense and put it to use. The blade's fiery edge was inches from her face, but she had stymied the offensive. Shae's counter offensive forced Taltin to turn and give ground as Shae attacked with a savage series of slashes the pressed Taltin to go on the defensive, but amazingly, he didn't give any ground. Coming in as one, Shae and Nalasee hammered his defenses together and forced him to leap into an arching backflip. Using the Force, he snatched several large shipping crates and sent them spinning towards the duo. Dodging the crate that flew her way, Nalasee temporarily lost sight of Shae and Taltin. Turning, she found Taltin charging Shae with a series of thrusts that Shae barely managed to counter. grabbing a fuel cell in the Force, she sent in spinning towards Taltin.

"Head's up Shae!" She shouted as the cell came spinning towards the combatants. Leaping backwards and drawing his pistol in one smooth motion, Shae fired at the cell. The explosion blinded Nalasee for a split second as she shielded her face from the heat. Looking into the now smoke filled area where Taltin had last stood, she searched for him to emerge. He came charging from the smoke, his armor still on fire and face contorted in rage and agony. She stood her ground against this new assault as Shae landed his leap and reengaged. With a newfound strength, Shae attacked Taltin's flank, forcing him to focus his attention on a new threat. Taltin planted an armored boot in Nalasee's chest that knocked the air out of her and forced her to stumble back. Meanwhile, Shae ducked under a counterstrike and began to drive Taltin back with a series of accurate and rapid slashes that forced Taltin to use all of his skill to block them. Nalasee again reengaged in the battle and joined Shae in driving taltin back. Taltin overextended himself for an opening Nalasee had left after a poor block. Nalasee rolled out of the way as Shae took advantage of the opening and thrust toward an exposed section of armor in the Dark Sider's armor. Taltin screamed in agony as the blade pierced his side. A massive Force blast knocked Shae and Nalasee a few feet back, but they retained their footing. Taltin looked up with a shocked expression as he was instantly sobered by the strike. Something showed in his eyes that had not been there before. Fear. With confidence swelling Nalasee smiled. "Had enough?" She asked. Taltin's only reply was an animal roar as he attacked. His saber seemed to move even faster than it had before and Nalasee had a sobering experience herself. Taltin was driving them back, and she had no way to stop it. Taltin's lightsaber hilt came from nowhere as it caught her in the forehead. Her world went black for a split second as she was knocked backward. The blow was accompanied by a powerful Force push that sent her tumbling into a stack of the toppled crates and sections of the hangers damaged roof. Climbing out, she saw Shae staring up into Taltin's fiery eyes fearlessly. Suddenly, Taltin lashed out in the Force, grasping Shae in a Force choke. His feet left the ground as his lightsaber fell from his grip. He grasped at his throat for a split second before Taltin slammed him on the ground. With a powerful bolt of Force lightning, he sent Shae sliding across the floor and colliding with a landing strut on the _Claw_. Taltin turned to face her.

"Now it's just me and you Jedi!" He said as he walked toward her. "You couldn't beat me together, how can you beat me alone?"

"I'm not alone." Nalasee replied quietly as she felt the Force fill her. The Force was with her today, and deep down inside, even Taltin knew it. She met Taltin's attack head on as they engaged. Their lightsabers flew faster than the eye could trace as slash after slash was exchanged, neither side gaining or giving ground to their opponent. The lightsabers smashed together as a deadlock formed. They stared into each other eyes, Nalasee's calm peace against Taltin's animal rage. Slowly, and to Taltin's horror, the violet blade moved downward, driving the crimson one out of the way. Pivoting away to save his wrists from being severed, he began to give ground. With the crushing force of a tidal wave, Nalasee drove him back. Slash after slash, thrust after thrust. Taltin had no answer for the assault. He couldn't formulate any defense other than block, step back, block, step back. In desperation, he lunged forward to try to swing the tide of battle. Nalasee saw the attack in what felt like hours before hand. She stepped to the side and brought the blade down on Taltin's forearms. With a cry, the severed arms toppled to the ground, still clutching the silver hilt of the saber. Still screaming, he fell to his knees in surrender. Nalasee leveled the lightsaber at his throat. But inside she didn't want to accept the surrender. The hours of torture, The manipulation, the attempt to control her and turn her against her best friend, all came pouring into her mind. Her vision's edges began to turn red as they had on Bastion, and as they had in the temple so many years ago.

"Nalasee stop." Shae said as he hauled himself upright using the ship as support. She could barely hear him. Her mind had began to narrow to one thing, kill Taltin. "Perhaps…" She told herself. "... the vision was right. Perhaps I'll never be able to control my anger."

"This is your chance to." Shae said reading her thoughts. "If you win now, you win forever Nalasee. If you kill him, he wins." The internal struggle raged as she raised her lightsaber and slashed downward. She stood up and withdrew it from the decking inches from Taltin's head.

"Give up or die here Taltin. I don't care which." Nalasee said almost disinterestedly as she extinguished her lightsaber and clipped it to her belt. "I'm only taking prisoners and friends back to Coruscant and I know which one you are." Nalasee leaned under Shae's underarm to give him support as she helped him aboard the _Claw_.

"You think this is over Jedi?" Taltin said growing more and more psychotic. "My master isn't finished with you, not by a long shot!" Nalasee paused. The sun had grown over the course of the duel from a small ball to a bright yellow curtain covering the entry bay. The installation would sink into the sun any minute.

"When he does come for us, we'll be ready." Nalasee said, as she finished helping Shae up the ramp. She sat him in the co-pilots seat as she climbed behind the controls. She then maneuvered the _Claw_ up and out of the hanger. As the viewport turned to face the sun, the last thing she saw of the hanger was Taltin with his same wicked grin and mouthing:

"This isn't over." _Claw_ launched away from the station and began to rapidly fly away in order to escape the inevitable destruction of the station. As the flaming remains of the asteroid collided with the sun, the reactors detonated, resulting in a small nuclear explosion that rocked the _Claw_. After that, all that was left, was silence and stars.

EPILOGUE: One Month after the destruction of the Cairn installation.

With _The League_ leaderless after the second death of Xizor, the group's assets wandered the galaxy and went about their separate ways. The majority of the survivors of the base were captured by Imperial forces hunting for pirates. Galactic Alliance vessels discovered the three frigates wandering aimlessly through space after mutinies and power struggles for leadership had thinned the crew so much they were unable to defend themselves. Amiston's military funeral on Basiton came a few weeks later, attended by numerous dignitaries from all the Galactic powers, as well as Shae, Nalasee, and surprisingly, Boba Fett. A painting romanticising the final moments of Amiston and the _Piett_ hung over the empty coffin. "Amiston would have liked that." Nalasee commented when she saw it. That was the only thing either said at the funeral. The remains of the Ilum cave were placed under Jedi protection, with a master and an apprentice sent to guard the temple as had been done during the Clone Wars. The remaining drugged Force-wielders were rounded up and imprisoned on Coruscant, although a few managed to escape into the dark and seedy underbellies of the outer rim. The Jedi council spent hours debriefing Shae and Nalasee on the events, and in the end, Shae was promoted to Knight. The council also decided that since Nalasee and Shae had worked so well together, they should be made permanent partners, an arrangement both Shae and Nalasee found no fault in. With trouble brewing on Coruscant and the galaxy at large temporarily on stand by, the council gave them both a much deserved leave of absence. So, as they sat in the cockpit of the _Claw_ , the argued over where they should go.

"The forests of Kashyyyk would be a nice little getaway." Shae was saying. " No Force wielding Mandos, no freaky force caves, and probably no one shooting at us."

"Well that's boring." Nalasee replied from the copilot's seat, heels resting on the controls. "How 'bout we go and bust up gambling rings on Bespin instead?"

"What happened to the no shooting part of our leave?" Shae asked

"You can be not shot at when you're dead." Nalasee returned playfully.

"Which I'd rather prevent for a while." Shae replied back equally playfully. "How 'bout we pick a random planet from the navicomputer. If there's someone shooting at us when we get there, we shoot back. If all there is to shoot is the breeze, then we do that. Fair?"

"Fair." Nalasee said as she began scrolling through the planets on the navicomputer. A destination appeared on the screen.

"The fourth moon of Sinupe." Shae said slightly relieved. "A noted vacation spot for honeymooners with absolutely no one who would shoot at us there." Nalasee put on a fake pouting expression before breaking into a wide grin.

"Deal's a deal armor boy." Nalasee said as she plugged in Sinupe IV into the ship's navicomputer. The ship leapt into hyperspace with excitement that seemed out of place for an inanimate object.

"I guess we get a happy ending after all." Shae said as he relaxed into the pilot's seats

"For now." Nalasee said as she relaxed back and fell asleep.

"For now." Shae said to himself as he too, fell asleep.

Thank you so much for reading my story! If you enjoyed it, check the sequel sequal posted on my page, _The Enemy Within_ , as Shae and Nalasee return to face their greatest challenge yet! Follow them as they fight to protect the monarch of a small but vital world from political rivals, galactic empires, and force darker than either can imagine.


End file.
